Perfection Breakdown
by Masamune Reforged
Summary: Heero snaps while on a mission, causing Duo and Wufei to be captured. While Trowa once again nurses him to health the other pilots attempt to hatch an escape. There is one problem, a young OZ soldier who Duo finds himself falling for.
1. Default Chapter Title

Perfection Breakdown- A Gundam Wing fanfic-by masamune

Disclaimer: I, Masamune, don't own the characters herein and so cannot be sued, especially since my e-mail is a hotmail one and there is no way in hell you could trace me) Mwhahaha…anyway, read on. And please send feedback.

Prologue- Situation

/Run. Shoot. Check your ammo. Run and stay low. Watch the doorways and corners for any sign of enemy action. Your right. Fire. Check your ammo. Reload/ 

This about summed up Heero Yuy's thinking while he dashed down a darkened corridor. The alarm had run in the southern section but thanks to Duo's "taking care of the power" the rest of the base was inert to the actions going on in the southern half. It was a typical mission, except they were on foot, all except Quatre who stayed at the safehouse. 

/Wait a sound!/ 

With stealth Heero stepped up against a wall and listened, his pistol leveled at a door only nine yards across the hall. Another sound, as if somebody entering a code. Heero waited, a calm sweat slowly trickling down his cheek. Of course he didn't move to wipe it away, it was merely a distraction from finishing the mission. In his mind it was only himself, the 8 bullets left in his clip and the poor bastard about to open the door that was distracting him from getting to 3rd South Lock and opening the door for Duo and Wufei. A little time passed and Heero thought maybe the baka OZ soldier had luckily decided to not open the door when a beeping and then the mechanical whir of the door made him clench his pistol hold. As the door slid open Heero's mind was something like a mechanized bull, ready to charge.

/Wait, wait/ His brain calmly instructed him as the door slid open. /Wait, shimatta its dark in here, wait, huh? Targets strange, aim lower, fire/

A gunshot sounded through the night and was followed by a soft, delicate thud.

Chapter 1- Collapse

/Where the hell is he? It's been five minutes. Maxwell and Wufei are probably pissing in their pants. Great, I've got to go back and look for him/ 

Trowa picked up his bag and machine gun and silently ran down the hall towards the place that Heero was supposed to have met him. 

hr

"Kisama Maxwell if you don't stop pacing I'm going to kill you."

"Gomen Wu," the Deathscythe pilot smiled, turning to his Chinese comrade who he'd snapped out of meditation by pacing the same straight line for over an hour. "But I'm really worried about Heero, he should have opened the door for us by now, or at least contacted us. 

"Hn," Wufei grunted, standing up and turning to face Duo. "We're in no place to do anything now but wait. Failure isn't an option. If OZ completes these Velius suits then they'll be able to easily overrun us. So just calm down and wait. Trowa's with him, I doubt that together they would have gotten killed."

Duo sighed. /You're really a weird guy sometimes Wufei/ he thought.

/One minute ranting and raving about justice and weakness and the next so damn calm/ 

"Well I hope you're right," Duo softly said, looking off down the dark hallway. Then with a smile he added, "Cuz Shinigami sure isn't about to blow this mission!"

"A bit late for that," a voice rang out from down the darkness. Instinctively turning Duo leveled his gun and squinted into the darkness, hoping to find the speaker. Then with horror he realized that a laser pointer was fixed directly over his heart. One thought went through his mind, /Oh shit/

"I suggest you throw down your weapons and surrender," the voice echoed off the gray walls. "I will not hesitate to kill you here and now."

/This bastard sounds serious/ Duo thought, but only tightened his grip on his automatic. /His voice is so calm and professional/ 

"Duo Maxwell, Chang Wufei," the voice came out of the darkness like a ghost, but Duo still couldn't see who it was. Wufei stood still next to him obviously not able to find their enemy. "Surrender now!" A shot cried out and Duo bit back a yell as the bullet tore through his chest. He stumbled and fell to one knee, blood beginning to flow from his wound. 

"I will fire again if you don't surrender," the voice came, louder then before but just as calm. "And this time it will be a fatal bullet."

"Kisama!" Duo heard Wufei shout into the blackness of the hallway. "What makes you think that you can capture us? Huh?!? What do you think you can do all alone?"

/I wouldn't want to piss this guy off if I were you Wufei/ Duo thought, finding it suddenly hard to breathe. Pain still shot through his chest where the shadowed sniper had shot him. /This guy is good, obviously he's either got night vision or he's just one hell of a shot/

Silence hung over the dark corridor for a moment. Then with just the slightest mocking tone the enemy replied, "I could kill you very easily Chang Wufei. You shouldn't doubt your opponent, especially in the dark and…what makes you say that I'm alone?"

The lights came on and Duo shielded his face from the sudden burst of light. He heard the sound of Wufei next to him throwing his gun to the floor. He looked up to see OZ soldiers surrounding them. They were caught.

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Trowa ran noiselessly through the base. Now that the lights had suddenly come on he knew they were in trouble. He glanced at his watch, 2:43 AM. The missions should have been over and done with 11 minutes ago and they had yet to find the mobile suit hangar where the new models where supposed to be kept.

/Can't afford to blow this mission/ Trowa told himself. /These new suits are faster, stronger versions of the Aries. With these OZ will be able to really give us a fight. Huh?/

Hearing a sound Trowa flattened up against a wall and listened intently.

/Sounds like crying/ he noted, slowly shuffling down the corridor towards the noise. 

He was in the living quarters now, and was pretty sure that it was empty. Finally reaching the corner he waited for a moment and took a deep breath. He could distinctly make out somebody crying around the corner. Probably mourning a lost friend. Inside his thoughts worked like a machine.

/Full clip. No noise. Aim for the head. Kill the one's that are armed first. Now step around and prepare to fire/

Swiftly swinging around he brought his held his machine gun at his slender waist. He was ready to pull the trigger, ready to extinguish another life without even blinking but he wasn't quite expecting to see the sight before him.

"Heero…" he let out a soft gasp, his surprise overcoming years of intensive training. There before him in a pool of blood knelt Heero Yuy. Gun long discarded near the wall the Perfect Soldier was now crying like a lost child, clutching to him the lifeless corpse of a little girl. The smell of death and blood overcame Trowa and he stepped forward still in a daze.

The scene wasn't anything particularly gruesome, at least not to him. When a person grows up raised in a life of bloodshed little does. As he stepped forward Heero suddenly noticed him and his head shot up. Tears still running down his face and with a broken look in his eyes he spoke so softly that Trowa could barely hear him, "I didn't…didn't mean to kill her. I…I," the Wing pilot's voice broke and he fell into a fury of tears and choked sobs. Moments passed and he looked up again into Trowa's unfeeling green eyes. 

"It's over," Trowa calmly said, not letting his face or voice express the sympathy and sadness he killed in his heart, making him unfeeling. "There isn't anything you can for her now. We have to hurry up and finish this mission or we're all dead." Heero remained fallen on the floor, small cries escaping his throat although he had now run out of tears to shed.

"Shimatta! Heero did you hear me?" Trowa asked, raising his voice a little bit partly from alarm that his normally stoic ally was now weeping like a little child.

/Shouldn't surprise you/ A voice in Trowa's head said. /After all can you guess how many times in his life he's cried before? Building up all his emotions and pain. Perfection is hard to build atop the foundation of human mind/ 

/Quiet/ Trowa told the voice in his head. /I'm concerned for him now. If we remain any longer we'll be captured or killed. But I'm going to take care of him no matter what it takes/

/Hmm, is that an emotion?/ the voice answered, almost mocking. /And it seems to be a very strong one too. Do you, one who has no name, feel emotions concerning this man?/

To this Trowa could not answer. Instead he focused his mind on the events unfolding as his watch beeped four times.

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Wufei saw Duo press the little button on his watch. /At least now Trowa and Heero may have a chance to escape…if they already haven't been caught/ Wufei thought grimly as his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the hallway.

"You OZ bastards sure as hell ain't about to capture Shinigami!" Duo yelled, reaching for his gun and bringing it up to his temple. "I'll be waiting for you bastards in Hell!!!"

A shot rang out and Wufei grimaced, not wanting to see the bloody sight he was sure had happened. But of course he looked and was surprised to see Duo still standing, holding his hand blood running out of it, gun on the floor.

"Gomen, Mr. Maxwell," the cold, dead voice came from across the hall. Squinting into the light Wufei made out a distinct figure, kneeling amidst a number of OZ soldiers. A rifle now was dangling from his right arm. The first thing Wufei noticed was the sniper couldn't have been much older then he was.

"Medic! Get Mr. Maxwell some medical attention and the rest of you take Mr. Wufei into custody."

OZ soldiers rushed forward and as tempted as he was to run Wufei held his ground knowing that if the ZO soldiers didn't gun him down the sniper would. Shackles clamped over his wrists and an ensign gave him a rush push forward. Next to him, Duo had collapsed and a doctor stood over him checking for a pulse. Then the sniper drifted up behind the doctor who turned around and whispered something. 

"Fine," the sniper said. "Make sure he's healed. And take good care of him." 

/He can't be older then 19/ Wufei thought sizing up the OZ sniper that had captured them. /But he sure as hell can shoot, wonder how he can see in the dark like that/

"No need to worry Mr. Wufei," the sniper said turning to him as Duo was carried off on a stretcher. "I'll personally make sure Mr. Maxwell gets the best of care."

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/Kuso! Duo and Wufei are caught/ Trowa's mind raced furiously as he stood in the middle of the hallway. Heero still in a heap on the floor. His mind racing furiously Trowa quickly glanced around for some kind of escape exit, ventilation shaft. The mission was blown but at least he could get Heero to safety.

"Come on Heero let's go!" Trowa urged his comrade to stand. But Heero didn't even raise his head at the sound of his name. He remained on the floor, holding the dead body of the little girl. 

/What the hell's wrong with him?/ Trowa thought to himself. /Did he just snap now or is that maybe he's just been pushed over the edge?/ Regardless the situation was looking very grim as Trowa became all too aware of the seconds ticking away until they were caught. 

"Heero let's go *now*!" Trowa raised his voice but still got no response.

Finally he bent down and took hold of Heero's arm and began to pull the Wing pilot to his feet.

"Iie!!!" Heero's outburst surprised Trowa. "I won't leave her, I'm not leaving her here all alone."

Releasing his arm Trowa stepped back for a minute, taking in the trauma before him. Then with firm resolve he picked up his pistol and sharply struck Heero on the back of the head. The Prussian eyed pilot cried out weakly and then crumpled to the floor, unconscious. 

"Gomen Heero," Trowa whispered as he picked up the limp body of his friend, throwing his bag of supplies to the floor. He wouldn't need them now. The dead weight was hard to handle but Trowa slung Heero over his shoulders and made his way to the ventilation shaft. Opening it he took one last look behind him.

/Right between the eyes/ he somberly noted, glancing at the little girl. /Never had a chance/ He crawled into the tight vent and then pulled Heero up directly behind him. The metal vent was cold and made quite a bit of noise as Trowa moved slowly through it on his hands and knees. /This vent should lead to the outside soon enough/ He though, somewhat struggling with Heero's dead weight being dragged behind him.


	2. Default Chapter Title

Perfection Breakdown

Chapter 2- Aftermath

Duo was sharply awakened by the sounds of a large metal door being opened. It took the Deathscythe pilot almost a minute to remember where he was and what exactly had brought him to the cold, hard cot that he lay on now. 

/Fuck that hurts!/ He thought as he finally became aware of the sharp throbbing pain in his chest. Duo attempted to feel the wound except he suddenly found his wrists in the strong vise of a huge man that suddenly loomed over him. 

"Well, Prince Charming's awake," the man said, leering forward his features impossible to make out but the tone in his voice unmistakable. "Thought you might need a little kiss first."

Duo felt himself begin to panic as he felt the large man begin to crush him down onto the cot and fumble at his zipper. With a slight curse and while keeping his hand firmly on Duo's chest the leach began to remove his boxer shorts. He stopped and looked into Duo's eyes and asked, "I'll bet you want to know what's in this tight package."

"Dr. Anania I think that's not necessary," a cold slightly nasal voice drifted from somewhere in the cell. The large man immediately stopped and looked around the room, fumbling to pull his pants up. Duo managed to prop his head up and saw a dark figure leaning causally against the opposite wall of the cell.

"Report to Chaice in Room 482, K Area," the figure said, slightly adjusting his position. "You are dismissed Doctor."

Mesmerized for a second the would-be-rapist squinted off into the dark as though trying to identify the speaker. Then not sure whether to zip up his pants or exit the room he tried to do both and stumbled slightly. Finally steadying himself the large doctor zipped up his pants and never taking his eyes off the man in the corner walked out of the cell. The room was suddenly very quiet until the mysterious speaker coughed suddenly.

"Gomen," he said, the only feeling noticeable in his voice came from a raspy throat. "I caught a damned cold while waiting here. These cells are the pits, no way I can let you stay in a shitty hole like this."

/It's that OZ sniper/ Duo thought to himself, recalling the rough, hard voice. /Heh can't even see his face this time either/

"So what are you going to do with me?" Duo asked, noticing how weak his voice sounded. The sniper shifted his weight and walked into the light giving Duo his first good look at his face.

Duo gasped.

/He can't be much older then me/ he thought, giving the sniper a look over. He was very tall, even more so then Trowa. He was well built with broad shoulders and powerful arms, but for some reason gave off a sense of fragileness. His skin was incredibly pale and he had reddish brown hair that hung over into his face only slightly, almost covering his eyes. /My God his eyes are red!/ Duo noted, for indeed the young soldier's eyes were pigmented in a dull, sad, red color. 

"Explosion," the sniper said, noting Duo's gaze. "Chemical fire, burnt away my eyes and left me blind for awhile. But some boys in a lab fixed me up pretty nicely." And indeed the solemn face held no blemishes or signs of damage, but only held the quiet smoldering red eyes.

"And to answer your question," the morose sniper continued, "I'm supposed to interrogate you now. We have very little information on pilots 01, 03 and 04, though 04 is popularly rumored to be one Quatre Raberba Winner, heir to the prestigious mining family on L4."

"If I were you guys I'd be more worried about me, Shinigami," Duo smiled, trying to sound tough but finding small comfort in his comment. The sniper was not impressed but seemed slightly amused. 

"We have sufficient information on you," he said seriously, turning away and looking off into the dark. /Ch' this guy sounds just like Heero/ "Born on L2, orphaned, grew up at Maxwell Church, connections with the Sweepers group. We know your blood type, birth date, and your real name."

Duo sucked in his breath. /My real name? How the hell do they know that?/ 

"It's actually Brian Koral, son of Jack and Cecilia Koral," the sniper said as if commenting on the weather. Not even realizing that this was the first time Duo had ever heard his birth name. "But what's in a name?" he asked the black walls, gesturing slightly with his arms.

Overwhelmed by the onslaught of sudden information and a sick realization of his situation Duo felt his eyes droop and sleep begin to overtake him. He fought to stay awake, not wanting to look like a weak baka. 

"So what the hell are you gonna ask me?" Duo said. "I'd sort of hoped to become friends." 

This wasn't true obviously but it at least made the sniper turn around. And for a second Duo could have sworn he'd seen the ghost of a smile cross the tall soldier's face. "You're not in very good shape for interrogation right now. And I know Commander Treize would be most upset if you were mistreated. I'm going to let you rest for a little first while I report to him." And then added, "I'll be back soon though, don't worry about anyone bothering you."

"Heh, glad to hear that," Duo said, half jokingly, half thankfully. A smile spread across his face. He could actually get to like this guy. "Plus I need my beauty sleep," he added, stretching his arms and yawning, looking very much like a cat.

This time the smile was plain and genuine as the sniper nodded and then left the room. The warm light made Duo cover his eyes for a moment before the heavy cell door closed again, leaving him in a somewhat heavy but not dreary silence. 

"And I don't even know his name," he whispered into the darkness.

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Rashid and the Maganac crew had never seen their Quatre-sama in such an agitated mood, as he was now. The small platinum blonde had been pacing the front room of the large safehouse for more then three hours and had missed tea time. That was unheard of. 

Quatre briefly stopped his frustrated vigil when a rather timid Abdul stepped into the room.

"Excuse me Quatre-sama," the Arab whispered, very mindful of Quatre's bad mood. "That OZ strikeforce hasn't moved yet and reinforcements are coming in. They must know we're here. If we wait any longer they'll box us in."

"Any word from Trowa or any of the others?" Quatre asked, not even turning to face Abdul. The concern has evident in his voice and further upset Abdul that he'd have to answer that question.

"No, we've gotten nothing," he replied, knowing that the cause of Quatre's bad mood was his concern for the other pilots, Trowa in particular.

"Trowa..." Quatre sighed under his breath, trying to still think clearly. /I have to trust Trowa that he'll be able to find me someway. We can't afford to stay any longer. Shimatta, why hasn't he contacted us yet? What the hell went wrong?/

Composing himself Quatre turned to face Abdul. "Is Sandrock ready? We'll leave in an hour."

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The three guards were making blatant sexual remarks about "the new boy in 54-A". Anyone could tell. In an army where females were quite uncommon and in strong demand, many had resorted to gratifying their sexual urges via the prisoners. And this one was reported to be a hot one.

"I'll be back in a few hours," the OZ sniper said after reaching the guard station. "And I don't want to find anything wrong with him, understand?"

One of the guards eyed over the black OZ uniform and snickered at the soldier's sunglasses, which had been put on only after leaving the cell. "Give us a fuckin break. As long as he's still in one piece afterwards what the hell do you care?"

"If you even touch him in any way you'll have to pay dearly," the sniper's voice was calm but held a lingering threat that was unmistakable. But this guard was notorious throughout the base for his ego and fiery attitude.

"Ch'! You can't do a fuckin thing, you four eyed asswipe!" the guard spat, rising from his chair. "Don't make me do something crazy like kill you." 

"There's many things worse then death," the sniper commented, giving an icy smile.

"Oh yeah tough boy! Like what?"

"Castration." And the tone with which it was said was one not to be answered to rudely.

"You wouldn't!" the big guard said, more out of fear then disbelief.

"I have," the tall soldier replied, his smile fading. "So do you understand me?" for emphasis he removed his sunglasses and glared at the impertinent man.

The rude guard nodded stupidly and the sniper once again put on his shades and continued to walk down the hallway. He only walked a few yards before a yell made him turn.

"Hey yo! Maxim!" a loud, friendly shout came from down the corridor. Another OZ soldier running towards him. Finally catching up and panting the soldier grinned and asked jovially, "What'd you say to that asshole? Looked like he'd have nightmares about you man."

Maxim, the OZ sniper smiled briefly. "Hello Justin, I'd love to talk but I need to report to the commander about the new prisoner."

"Huh? You too? Thought you were better than all that Maxim! Too hot ass items come up today man. I'm talking about cell 54-A and the new mobile suit system. Thought you weren't like those queers though Maxim."

"Hmph, I'm not like them," the tall soldier said, though his mind wandered back into the dark cell. He could only ask himself why he'd acted the way he had. "It really doesn't matter to me if they're gay or not but their behavior is inexcusable."

"Yes indeed Sergeant, their behavior is very inexcusable," The ensign repeated in an innocent mockery of Maxim's voice. "You take everything so damn serious man. Hey, what ya going to tell Commander Roses? 'Tightest butthole I've ever had sir. Leanest piece of meat to hit the cell blocks in…'"

"Come off it Justin!" Maxim replied, irritation finally outweighing his calm. "You know it's not like that. I had no luck with interrogation but I was thinking of asking Commander Treize for special assignment. That's all!"

The smile disappeared and Maxim's friend slowed his pace. "Special assignment? To this kid? Oh shit man you really do have it for the kid." 

"Justin," Maxim stopped too and faced his friend, the annoyance obvious on his face. "Don't give me shit about this, just let me do what I think is best." 

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Seeing someone like Heero Yuy cry is an event that should not be taken unnoticed. The rain had stopped an hour ago but still left a glistening sheen on the grass outside the small hut. Trowa turned away from the window as the whistle from the kettle of boiling water sounded. Removing his gaze from the foliage outside Trowa walked across the small, poorly furnished room and with only the slightest of glances into the cramped bedroom where Heero lay, dead asleep.

/At least he's stopped crying/ Trowa noted as he took the kettle of the stove and broke spaghetti to cook in it. /Maybe in his dreams he'll manage to find some sanctuary/ 

He'd fled the OZ base with Heero but upon learning that OZ had surrounded their normal safehouse. They'd been forced to take shelter in this small shack that was only supposed to be used "if all hell broke loose" as Wufei once put it. 

And indeed it had, during the flight from the OZ base Trowa had struggled mentally. Not only had he needed to take care of Heero, who cried and sobbed and occasionally flung out wildly at him, but was also very worried about Duo and Wufei.

/If they're hurt or if OZ's done anything bad to them then I'll go back there personally and kill them all/ Trowa thought, his emerald eyes flickering in the dim of lightning as the rain began to pour down again. 

/Ask yourself, would any of them do the same for you?/ The question formed like a sneer. /Haven't you ever thought about it? About how much you mean to any of them? It's pathetic. You're so desperate for any sort of love or friendship or any little scarp of emotion that others throw at you that you're attaching yourself to these people/

/Don't you know this is still a war? It's the same as it was on L3, they could die any minute. Do you really want to have to deal with the pain of losing another that you attached yourself too?/

It wasn't true though…had he actually ever felt anything for his comrades on L3? The ones that raped him and abused him and broke his soul no. But a few of them were actually pretty nice to him, other kids his own age that lived with him, raised like him to be soulless killing machines. Lots of those kids were dead now. All of them were the same, broken reflections of what they could have been. 

Suddenly a crashing sound from the bedroom shook Trowa from his thoughts and he quickly ran to see what had happened. Throwing the bedroom door open he first glanced at the bed and was horrified to see it disheveled and empty. Then the faint sounds of what he could immediately recognize as sobbing reached came from the bathroom. It had to be Heero. But Trowa remained fixed in his place, not sure what to do.

/Leave him his pride, his soul is already destroyed/ one part of him coldly instructed. 

But pushing that thought away he strode over to the bathroom and glanced inside. Heero stood amidst a heap of glass that had once been a mirror. A broken hairbrush lay in the sink, sparkling with tiny fragments of glass. And Heero stood, sobbing, staring at the remnants of the mirror the miraculously still hung from the wall, casting back a cracked mirage of him.

Trowa gently walked forward and without a word turned Heero away from the broken image, and walked him back into the bedroom.

-end part 2


	3. Default Chapter Title

"Perfection Breakdown"- A GW fanfiction

Part 3- Nightmare- by Masamune

MasamuneEHS@hotmail.com

The cell was as pitch black as could possibly be. The guards had shut off all the electricity going into Wufei's cell almost immediately after he broke the nose of the first one that tried to touch him. 

/That'll teach them not to try anything like that again/ Wufei thought, grinning a little as he wiped a small bit of blood off his shirt. /Dirty OZ bastards have no honor at all. I wonder if Treize knows about this?/

Through the heavy metal door Wufei faintly heard a man shout and curse and then some other voices laugh. The man whose nose he must have broken was probably pretty pissed. His friend, a skinny Latino that must've been in his 40's had made a beeline for the exit when the first pedophile guard was dropped by Wufei's smashing blow.

/Now they're undoubtedly going to come back in force/ Wufei thought grimly, surveying the dark, incredibly cold cell. He could see his breath linger in the air as he breathed. /Cowards only have strength in packs/ he mentally commented, as the sound of a keycard being inserted into his door ended his meditation.

There were for of them, one nervous fellow that Wufei recognized as the coward who had fled earlier. The two others were almost 6 feet high but looked incredibly stupid. The one that approached him first was the same he had knocked earlier. He had a huge wad of paper stuffed up his nose now. Wufei remained motionless, standing near his cot, back facing the four guards.

"Hey Chinaman!" one called out laughingly. Wufei decided he'd be the first to go. "Yo little pun what the fuck's your fuckin problem beatin the shit outta Riley over her? Just cause he can't get no girls he still gotta get his nuts off one way or another."

Snickers, the kind large dopey, bakas make. Then suddenly Wufei felt one come up behind him and his mind readied itself.

/Wait. Another step and sweep kick his ass. They have no guns but the guy outside may so don't kill any of them. Go for the head and move. Don't get into a war with one of them, they're just too strong…yeah right/

"What's wrong sweetie?" another voice cooed. "Got nothing to say?"

The man close to him stepped forward. Wufei dropped to his knees and swept his right leg around, completely catching the guard behind him and dropping him like lightning. Wufei faced the other three who all stood petrified. Meanwhile Wufei got to his feet and gave a sharp kick to the head of the downed man. Then he leaped forward towards the next closest, the one he'd already hit.

/His nose is injured, it wouldn't be fair to strike him there/ So instead Wufei kicked the bewildered man in the gut and as the stupefied guard let out a small cry brought his hand around and smacked him in the back of the head.

"Shit! Get him!" the coward yelled out, but didn't move one bit. The other guard stayed motionless too and eyed Wufei. It was obvious that they'd underestimated him. "Well come on get him!" the coward repeated.

"Why don't you come and get me yourself?" Wufei asked coldly, his voice thick with scorn and disgust. What weaklings. "Cowards like yourself shouldn't act so tough. It'll get you killed one of these days."

A groan from behind told Wufei the first guard was getting back up but he pretended to not notice. Instead he set his gaze on the cowardly guard and then on the other man, who he'd not seen before.

"You're not in much of a place to talk," the guard spat and pulled from his belt a pistol. "So try any more shit and I'll kill you, I don't care if you're a special prisoner."

/Wufei no baka!/ Wufei scolded himself. /Should've known they wouldn't all be unarmed. Shimatta, there's nothing I can do now/ 

Behind him Wufei heard the rustle as the first guard finally got to his feet. Then with an angry shout rushed at Wufei and tried to break his skull from behind. With unknown agility Wufei jumped back and lowered his shoulder. He grabbed the guard's arm and easily flipped the once again bewildered assailant to the floor. The man groaned and cursed but made no move to get up. 

"Hey!" the armed guard said angrily. Wufei looked up, the coward was gone but the armed man still stood, his pistol defiantly pointed at him. 

/Amateurs/ Wufei thought to himself and grinned. "I won't make a ruckus. Just leave me alone. Remember who started all this."

__

"Duo…"

"Wake up Duo…I know what you want…"

Duo's violet eyes fluttered open and he gazed about the dark, dimly lit room. He sat on a small bed in a poorly furnished room. A small desk and wooden chair across from the bed, a cluttered closet by the door. His room from…but that was impossible.

Duo looked down, he was no longer dressed in his black priest's robe but only in a pair of black boxers with white zigzag patterns, and they'd been his favorite until they burnt down in the fire.

He slowly walked towards the small open window that was letting in a sharp gust of cold air. Pulling it down he sighed softly and then the lights went out.

__

"Dark. Maybe you'll be safe in the dark. Maybe they won't find you in the dark. Run! Run through the dark. Nothing else can save you. Hide, ride, hide, kill." It sounded like a child, a lost lonely child, crying in the night, scared.

/Nani? What's going on? Who's there?/ Duo wondered to himself, a feeling of dread and terror running through him as a cold chill did. 

__

"But what will protect you from the dark?" Another voice this time and it made Duo jump as he realized that the speaker was all too close to him. _"In the dark you can satisfy all your wants and needs. I know what you want."_

Suddenly two icy frigid hands seemed to materialize from the darkness behind him. Duo yelped in fright and tried to turn around but one of the hands roughly grabbed his jaw, holding his face forward. The other pressed him backwards and Duo felt himself press against the cold hard naked flesh of a figure behind him.

A cold, seductive voice whispered in his ear, _"You want this."_

/Iie! This isn't what I want!/ Duo's mind screamed but the hands held him tightly pressed against his naked assailant. /Not this way/ His mind scrambled to call for help, anybody to help him.

The cold icy hands gently played with his body. One slowly traced the delicate features of his face; his cheek, his lips, his chin. The wandering probe gently caressed Duo's warm flesh, leaving goosebumps wherever it did so. Its partner scanned Duo's boyish chest. Running up and down his rib cage and every once and again moving upward and roughly pinching Duo's hardened nipples. Each time was sending a jolt of pleasure through Duo's body. 

Then a pair of lips gently fell on the back of his neck. Losing himself in the ecstasy of this unknown lover Duo urgently pushed back against the naked flesh. Wanton lips responded and sucked and licked along the back of his neck and gently across his shoulder blades.

__

"You like it don't you?" 

The whisper was more of a hiss then a human voice and was accompanied by one of the hands pinching hard on Duo's left nipple. Duo slightly yelped in pain but the other hand quickly covered his mouth and stopped him. The other hand drifted down, glided past Duo's navel and under the waistband of the black boxers. There it teased and tickled Duo's erection. At first gently and then faster and more deliberately it covered Duo's cock and pumped up and down sending waves of pleasure through him.

Duo moaned aloud as the mysterious hand worked its magic on him and he heard the voice again. Laughing this time and with spite and anger in its words.

__

"Hehehe, you're such a dirty, sweet, little whore. Play around a small bit and you'll let yourself be fucked by anyone under the sun." 

Without warning the caressing mouth opened and bit down hard on Duo's shoulder. Blood began to run from the small wound and was licked away by the tongue of the unknown.

"Itai!" Duo shouted, panic and fear pushing past the pure high of ecstasy and lust he felt. 

The cold voice laughed and continued to fiercely jack Duo off. Duo looked down as his boxers fell around his ankles and he became all too aware of the large mass of flesh that suddenly seemed to appear from nowhere and press firmly into Duo's butt.

The hand that had kept his mouth clamped released its grip only to scratch animally at Duo's face, drawing blood from his cheek. It then wiped the small trickle away and brought it to Duo's mouth. The Deathscythe pilot was now more scared then anything else and was sickly horrified as the finger slipped into his mouth and he instinctively felt his tongue lick his own blood off the intruding finger.

"Yamero! Stop! Iie! Hanase! I don't want this!" he suddenly shouted, realizing what was going on. Brought off his pleasure high by the pain.

__

"But you love blood, that's why you're forever bathed in it."

And suddenly Duo looked down nearly shrieked as he saw that his chest and penis was soaked in blood. The cold fingers were no longer gently caressing him. They'd turned into white bony protrusions, roughly grabbing and cutting him. 

"Itai! What the hell? Yamero! What the fuck? Let go of me!" Duo yelled struggling fiercely, against the skeleton hands that tormented his flesh. "Help! Help me, oh God help me!"

__

"God? The only place of safety is in the dark, the only one that can help you is Death."

"Help me! Heero!" Duo cried out the name in a desperate plea, wanting the pain to end. "Heero!"

"What makes you think he'll come? Do you think he'll help you? It's only you and me." A dark, vile tongue coated in blood licked Duo's face, wiping away the blood that ran from the small cut. The dark enemy laughed cruelly and Duo felt the sharp bony hands begin to shake him as the monster laughed and continued to scratch him and smear the blood on his chest.

"Heero! Oh God help me Heero!"

__

"You're a slut and you love it. Don't fear me; you're a monster too."

"No! Shimatta, leave me alone! Heero help!"

__

"Baka. Stop eluding yourself…wake up Duo!"

"Heero! Please, Heero, anyone?" Duo's voice had become a soft plea, a sob of a helpless child.

"Wake up Duo!"

And suddenly Duo awoke to find himself still shrouded in darkness, still being shaken by a pair of strong hands. Fiercely and in complete fear he lashed out and struck Maxim, knocking his sunglasses to the floor.

"Duo snap of it! You were just dreaming! There's nothing here! Noone will hurt you," Maxim pleaded, still shaking the frightened boy. 

"Heero! Onegai Heero help me!" Duo mumbled, still fighting and flailing against the dark foe. 

With a frown Maxim picked up the delirious boy up and tried to restrain him. Duo's cries eventually faded into an incoherent mass of pleas. Maxim looked down and for a minute felt something like sympathy and a bond with Duo. But worse he felt something more…

"No, never, never. Above all else never develop feelings for the enemy," Maxim repeated to himself, like recalling a lesson. "Keep it on a professional level, don't let your emotions rule you."

Trying to compose himself he looked down into Duo's face and stared at the marvelous beauty of the handsome Deathscythe pilot. He gently brushed Duo's hair off his sweaty forehead and held it there for just a second longer, relishing in the feeling of delicate flesh. 

"Ch'. Look at me. Like a weak baka," Maxim snorted, shaking his head and moving towards the door. He couldn't just leave Duo here in this condition. He thought carefully for a minute.

/Commander Treize allowed me to be placed on special assignment/ Maxim though. /I'm sworn to protect him and I'm responsible for the subject's safety and health/ Thinking of Duo as a mission was much easier, much safer for a soldier of OZ. He couldn't stand such a distraction.

Trowa barely slept at all that night. It wasn't that he didn't need sleep. Caring for Heero and simply getting through the day had become an excruciating task. Thankfully Heero had slept most of the day, mentally exhausted from his tantrums and the nightmares that constantly seemed to haunt him. In fact Trowa had spent most of the day sitting with Heero.

This was Quatre's kind of thing. Although Trowa had taken care of Heero after the botched Siberia mission it was different now. Heero then had been more of a vegetable then human. Feed, water and empty the bedpan and redress the bandages a few times a day and Trowa hadn't really needed to pay any more attention to the battered Wing pilot.

But now, Heero was more human then ever, more human then he normally was. He was vulnerable, weak, scared. Words like that hardly ever fit in a sentence with Heero Yuy… unless you were discussing how scared OZ soldiers could get.

But it was something more now. Trowa had sat by Heero's bedside for countless hours today and ever since escaping the OZ factory. Other then making food for himself and Heero, which had to be very soft so the Wing pilot wouldn't choke, and going to the bathroom Trowa had stood his watch. But that wasn't what was keeping him awake now was it?

In general Trowa seldom spoke to Heero. But when Heero was ravaged by the demons of dreams Trowa would always strongly take the powerful, slightly callused hand of Heero and hold it tightly, gently trying to cokes Heero from his nightmare, whispering soft and comforting words that often surprised Trowa. 

/Nani? What was that noise?/ Trowa thought glancing at the doorway that led to Heero's. /Is Heero alright?/ he wondered, not making a move to get up but listening for anything else.

/Baka, you're just imagining it/ a part of him snapped, the more "sensible" and "realistic" part of him. /You just want an excuse to run in there and hold his hand or even just look at him/

/What if I do? I can't control my emotions, I can't control how I feel/ Trowa answered in his head, slightly surprised that he'd even allowed such a thought to be confirmed in his mind. 

/Disappointing/ the voice coldly replied. /And you'd been killing your emotions for so long…Do you really think you can ever be as human as you were? Do you really want to be? Don't forget what happened when YOU were vulnerable and helpless. If you have emotions it just gives other people an edge to step on you/

/I can't stop my heart, and I really don't want to. I don't care if I fall in love, I don't care if I'm vulnerable again. Anything's better then being soulless/ Trowa shuddered and stayed in deep self-thought, not noticing the soft steps approaching him.

/Listen to me/ the other part of him that Trowa hoped to be free of answered. /What makes you think Heero'd ever want you? A scarred, used piece of trash. You're used goods, nobody wants somebody else's seconds/

It hurts. It really does hurt to not be at peace with yourself. It hurts to live as a soulless killer that nobody could possibly love. It's painful to gaze onto yourself and see what you really are. It hurts a lot.

"Trowa?" a soft, dry voice came from the doorway. Trowa quickly pulled his pistol from under his pillow and aimed it at the dark figure standing in his doorway, silently cursing himself for getting so unaware in his thoughts.

It was only Heero though. Trowa lowered his gun; Heero walked into the room, limping a small bit as he made his way to the side of Trowa's bed.

"What's wrong Heero?" Trowa asked, concern making his voice thick along with the realization that both he and his comrade were shirtless and in what would normally be a very bizarre situation if any passerby looked in the room. 

"Well…if," Heero's voice was quaking and Heero looked down at the floor, seemingly embarrased. 

"Come on Heero," Trowa asked, starting to get out from under the covers and then thinking better of it. "Just tell me."

"Well if you don't mind I'd…" Heero's voice trailed off and he still could not make his eyes meet Trowa's. "I'd like to stay in here with you tonight, if you don't mind."

Sirens, firecrackers, champagne and warheads couldn't properly simulate the blur of emotions and reactions in Trowa's head. Part of him wanted to cry out, "Oh boy, it's gonna be a hot time in the old town tonight!" While others were much less sure and couldn't imagine why Heero'd ever say such a thing.

/Why's he saying this?/ Trowa asked himself. /He doesn't look delirious or anything. Good God is this actually what he wants? Is he coming on to me? Iie…impossible/

But Trowa only nodded and moved over in the not-made-for-two bed. But Heero didn't move, he stood, still looking away, looking anywhere but into Trowa's eyes. 

"I feel so weak," he finally said after more then a minute had passed. "I was trained my whole life to never need anyone, never need any help. I was supposed to be the perfect, self-sufficient soldier. And now look at me. I think if I watched one of those life insurance commercials I'd break down and cry in no time."

"Heero…" Trowa whispered, not really sure what to say. Wanting to heal his companions pain, but so very unsure of what to say, of his own feelings. 

Heero looked up and looked into Trowa's face. And Trowa swore that Prussian sparkle was the most beautiful color in the world. Finally Heero walked over, his feet falling noiselessly on the bare wooden floor. He climbed in under the soft blue blankets and remained motionless, allowing a silence that seemed to linger for eternity to fall on them. But it was really only a few minutes before Heero turned slightly.

"I want to thank you Trowa," he said, his voice filled with a delicate blend of gratitude, embarrassment and maybe something more. "You've taken such good care of me. I can't think of anybody that's ever done so much and went out of their way so much for me."

"Heero…" Trowa said softly, his voice dry and his mind racing and scrambling but coming up empty for words. 

"Trowa," Heero said, still struggling somewhat to keep the emotion in his voice subdued. "You ease my nightmares."

/Me? A heartless, scarred boy with no name?/ Trowa wistfully reflected inside.

"I don't know what it is but I can always tell when you're by my side that everything will be ok somehow," Heero continued. "When my nightmares come and you hold my hand or whisper to me…I always feel better. I always feel that I'm safe…as long as I'm with you."

The Heavyarms pilot lay still, not wanting to move lest he break the delicate mood that was bringing so much joy to his heart. He only stared back, his shimmering emerald eyes open and vulnerable.

/Does he know how much I want to kiss him right now?/ Trowa wondered. /Does he know what he does to me? The way he makes me feel…/ 

"And I just want to thank you for that Trowa, with all my heart."

-end part 3


	4. Part 4- Trust

Perfection Breakdown-by masamune

Part 4- Trust

The metal restraints went tightly over Wufei's wrists. It had taken 8 guards to finally pin down and carry the battle-hardened Chinese man into the medical room. But at least he'd given a few of the goons a shot or two that they'd feel in the morning. 

/Doesn't matter much now/ Wufei thought grimly as gloved hands took a small clamp and braced it around his arms, the cold steel plating sending a shiver up Wufei's spine. /Torture is the coward's way to discover the enemy's plans. But I won't tell anything to them/

"Ready to start?" a deep, brooding voice came from the right side of the room. 

Wufei turned his head, because he couldn't move any other part of his body, and saw a short, mustachioed OZ officer working feverishly over a control panel. A slight buzz from the monitors and a soft mechanical whir from a machine behind him made Wufei tense up. There was no honor in any of this process.

"Name's Ocelot," the mustachioed soldier turned and bowed mockingly. "And you my dear, brave, freedom fighter, are about to have your will completely broken."

Before Wufei could spit out his angry retort it was lost admitted a torrid flood of pain as the short OZ officer pushed a button on the console. A sharp bolt of pain attacked, beginning at Wufei's wrists and surging through all of his body, the pain tremendous to behold. He cried out, despite his hardest intentions not to. Wufei's mind quickly began to work to take focus away from the pain, lest he betray any secrets. 

It must have only been a moment but the pain and mental struggle just to stay conscious was huge. The middle age officer smiled, enjoying inflicting pain on Wufei. He pressed another button and the electrical current stopped. Wufei's head slumped forward suddenly and his mind cleared.

/Gods! I can't tell them anything. I won't divulge any secrets to the enemy/

"How was that for starters?" Ocelot asked, a twisted grin forming on his face. "Don't worry boy. I'll make sure you breakdown. Nobody can hold out forever."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trowa slept on his side, or more accurately tried to sleep. The silent pilot of Gundam Heavyarms turned away from the quiet silhouetted form of Heero Yuy. Neither slept Heero more from his fear of the nightmares that would attack him the second he drifted off, Trowa…for some different, strange reason. 

/He's so well built and handsome/ the thought snaked into Trowa's mind, every sense of reason and right trying to stop it. It wasn't right to have such feelings toward another guy was it? Most certainly not a fellow pilot. 

"Trowa," Heero's voice came soft and calm, with only the slightest bit of sleepiness behind it. 

Trowa sucked in his breath for a second, not sure whether to breath or speak first. Then he whispered back, although there was no real need to whisper, "What is it Heero?" He tried to make his voice sound dead and calm, but the still night air seemed to take down the masquerade and show his words as true feelings of concern and sincerity. 

"Do you think I'm a monster Trowa?" The thought was expressed in the utmost sincerity and Trowa rolled over to face the depressed Wing pilot. Heero's eyes convened the sense of opening and vulnerability. 

Trowa propped his head up an his arm and said softly, taking his hand and bringing up to caress Heero's cheek, only stopping inches away and decided better of it. 

"Heero I've never met anyone in my life like you," Trowa responded, his voice cool and measured. "When I first met you I wanted to be more like you, you really had that large of an effect on me."

"Why would you want to be like me?" Heero asked, scorn and doubt stained his question and sent a shiver through Trowa's thoughts. "Why would you want to be a heartless killer like me? A killer of children and innocents. I might as well not have a heart, it doesn't do anything. I'm a shell of a man. I feel so dead inside that sometimes I just want to end it all. All I'm good for is killing."

/It's not fair/ Trowa thought, listening to Heero. /Heero never had a chance to live a normal life, a happy life. He's always been raised for war, like me. Everyone he's ever known just wants him for his power; they don't care about him. And it's those same bastards that break him down and hurt his heart every chance they get/

/And even through all that he's become such an incredible person that I think I'm falling in love with him/

/Comb, comb. Make sure you get all the knots out. Straighten the bangs on the right. Better. Damn this side's a mess. Comb more/

Such was Maxim's train of thought as he stood in his dormitory staring intently into the mirror. On the bed closest to him lay Duo, curled up and sleeping soundly. But Maxim had forgotten about Duo almost a full half-hour ago when he'd began his regular morning routine. 

Clean bathroom, make sure everything's in place, and take a shower, wash hair, brush hair out. The tall OZ soldier religiously kept this morning routine, always focusing all of his energy to the task at hand. Staying clean and keeping his room in complete order was almost a necessity to him. He washed sometimes four times a day, sometimes even if he didn't need to. It was as if his very life and soul depended on his body and room being perfect and spotless.

In short, habits die hard.

A knock came at his door, behind him and a person entered. Thinking it was his friend Justin Maxim turned around, a slight smile on his face even thought he was annoyed that his morning routine had been upset. When he saw who his unexpected visitor was however, his smile melted away quickly replaced by the stoic, lack of emotion that normally occupied him.

"What brings you here Ocelot?" Maxim asked, keeping his voice calm although his fiery red eyes betrayed him and showed his dislike for this cruel man. 

"Business, dear Sergeant," Ocelot replied crisply, taking a step into the small dorm. He hadn't taken his boots off and upon seeing the small stain they left in the white carpet Maxim winced and internally vowed to make Ocelot pay for this obvious act of disrespect.

"If you don't know I'm interrogating 05, the one called Chang Wufei that was captured this past weekend," Ocelot's voice was always deep although he barely reached Maxim's shoulders. "I had my first "session" with him early this morning and I must say he's stronger then I'd imagine just a boy could be." 

"Don't waste my time with this bullshit Ocelot," Maxim said coldly, his distaste for torture showing. "What do you really want?"

/Him and his disgusting love of torture/ Maxim thought. /It's disgusting the way some take advantage of people in a weaker position then they. Torture is almost as horrible as those new mobile doll prototypes/

"To the point as always," Ocelot sighed and stroked his long mustache. "Since you've been assigned to interrogate the other prisoner 02 I was wondering why in the world you'd ask to be put on Special Assignment to him."

"I've received consent from Treize," Maxim snapped back. "It doesn't matter what my reasons are but I'm on Special Assignment to him now and that's that."

"You do know that Special Assignment was originally created so certain officers could ensure the safety of certain loved ones that were in jail," Ocelot's voice had a small twist. The mustached tormentor loved putting others in an uncomfortable place, whether in the interrogation room or not. "So it only struck me as odd because…" Ocelot's brooding voice fell away as he spied Duo laying curled up on the bed near Maxim, fast asleep.

Maxim took a step up towards the madman, thoroughly upset by the mad glitter that had just flown through Ocelot's eyes. Ocelot however made no move and after almost a full minute of looking at Duo glanced back at Maxim, as if surprised to find him still there waiting.

"My, he doesn't even look 15," Ocelot noted with a devious smile. "Why don't you let me have one or two "sessions" with him ne? I'm sure I'll be able to snap his will in no time."

Maxim spat something he only did if he was immensely upset. But he kept his face steady and even though his eyes burned red with an intensity that even reached Ocelot he managed to keep his voice steady.

"As you said I'm on Special Assignment to him," his voice was dead, a machine's could have replaced it, almost, and this was the way he should act. "And he'll remain in MY care until I think it better otherwise. But I thank you for your time Sergeant, good day." And with that swift closing Maxim basically pushed the stout middle aged man out of his dorm and shut the door, just a bit too hard.

Maxim gazed around his room again. His hair was a mess, dirt on the floor, his own spit. Shit, he'd need to clean the floor today, and then take another shower. Then a rustling from the bed snapped him back into action. Duo sat up straight and looked at Maxim, his hair also disheveled but his face showing no signs of weariness. 

"How long have you been awake?" Maxim asked coldly, upset at himself for not noticing Duo's feint. He'd probably heard the whole conversation with Ocelot.

"Since before you got out of the shower," Duo replied, his voice also calm. The Deathscythe pilot yawned loudly and stretched his limbs, lifting his shirt just slightly, to reveal his belly button. Then he swung his legs around and dangled them off the small bed and looked up at Maxim.

"So, what's this Special Assignment stuff mean?" 

"Quatre-sama! We've gotten word that Auda and Abdul have made it into the OZ base."

Quatre turned away from the waning twilight, facing Rashid. The sun glittered down on the small valley they were in, reflected back sharply by the gleaming figures of the Maganac Corps and Gundam Sandrock. Quatre was dressed in long trousers and a green T-shirt, covered by a khaki vest. It had been hard since they had managed to escape from their safehouse, making sure to blow the place up so OZ couldn't make any use of it. 

"Any word from Trowa?" Quatre's voice was calm and restrained but unable to hide the wisp of emotion and angst that always seemed to accompany Trowa's name. 

"Iie Quatre-sama, gomen nasai," Rashid's deep voice echoed faintly across the canyon walls that surrounded them. 

Quatre turned away sullenly and faced the failing sunlight, disappearing rapidly over the hills to the west. "How many prisoners do they confirm from Saturday's attack?"

"They've only been able to check half the database but they've only found two new prisoners."

/Trowa…where are you? You haven't contacted us and it's almost been a week. Are you captured? Are you safe? If anything's happened to you I'll…/

"Quatre-sama?"

"Huh? Nani?" Quatre's concentration broke as Rashid gently placed a large hand on the Winner heir's shoulder. 

"We'll find them. Don't worry about it."

"How long were you awake?"

"Since you got out of the shower," Duo turned to him but Maxim looked away, unable to make eye contact with the young prisoner. He'd heard the whole conversation about 05 and the torture. "But I finally learned your name though. You've never told me it I just realized. Maxim…got a nice ring to it, of course it's nothing compared to oh, well, say Duo perhaps but it's still cool."

"You don't need to babble bullshit," Maxim's voice was hard and cold. "I can tell you're worried about your comrade, there's no need to ramble on and try to make me think you're perfectly happy."

"That man," Duo said, a shiver sent down his spine from the remembrance of Ocelot's curved, wicked grin. "What will he do with Wufei?"

/And what will you do with me?/ Duo couldn't help but wonder.

"He's Sergeant Servanis Ocelot," Maxim said, interrupted by a quick cough. "He was a full Major once but he was caught for doing some pretty unsavory things to POW's in Zanzibar. He barely missed begin court-martialed but was demoted permanently to Sergeant. He specializes in interrogation, but it's really cruel and heartless torture."

"Can you do anything to help Wufei?"

"My hands are tied. I'm the same rank as him and although I can override anything he does towards you, because of Special Assignment, I still can't do anything with his interrogation process. You'd better hope that this 05 is one tough kid."

/Wufei's tough…but that bastard will torment him just for kicks even if he can't get answers. But I'm sure MY torture will be strictly business right Mr. OZ-Sniper-Perfect Soldier-Maxim?/

All remained quiet in the small dorm room for a moment, and then Duo asked, "Aren't you supposed to be in the same position to me as he is to Wufei? Interrogator? What are you going to do with me?" 

Duo's voice was distant and dispassionate, only barely coated in hints of fear. He realized now that he was totally at the mercy of this young OZ officer who he'd barely met a few days ago. Maxim walked over and sat down on the bed next to Duo, who scooted away just slightly, suddenly not wanting to be too close to the sullen OZ sniper. Maxim opened his mouth to speak but Duo quickly silenced him.

/Or are you going to try to rape me and keep me as a sex slave? Is that your fucked up idea? No…you're too fucking professional and cold to do that/ Duo thought coldly to himself, his lower lip quivering as he felt himself ready to burst. He couldn't hold back his anger much longer. /All I am is a mission. You're just using me to get to the others. You're just using me…/

"I'm just some objective huh?" Duo's voice had lost its calm edge, he was now thoroughly open and upset. "You fucking OZ bastard! I almost came to trusting you!"

Several times Maxim began to speak but Duo cut him off everytime; rambling on, not caring that Maxim could easily throw him back in his cold jail cell to be at the mercy of the cruel guards. 

/Why am I so angry with him? I barely even know the guy! Why should I care about my relationship with an enemy so much?/

"You were probably just taking the friendly approach!" Duo shouted. "Just act nice and I'll gush all my fucking secrets and tell you every fucking thing you want to hear! Is that right? Well…"

Suddenly Maxim's arm snapped out and he placed a strong hand over Duo's mouth, startling Duo and cutting off his oxygen for just a second. Then he brought his hand away and took a firm grip on Duo's face and forced the Deathscythe pilot's head to turn to him, their eyes meeting with a spark of energy.

"Now you listen to me," Maxim whispered, his voice undeterminable but definitely keeping it's strong, serious tone. "I don't like people yelling and I don't like people jumping to conclusions." His voice was almost a hiss as his eyes burned deeply into Duo's, the eerie red aura seeming to bore into Duo's violet depths and search for something. "If you'll calm down and listen to me then I'll tell you exactly why I requested to be Specially Assigned to you."

Silence filled the room where angry shouts and accusations still echoed off the walls. 

"Ever since you Gundam pilots started fighting I've been awed by you. I've always held you pilots in high regard and I was actually very happy when we learned of your mission here. I shot you, and helped capture 05. But when I was supposed to interrogate you I found that among other things, my respect got in the way. I couldn't bring myself to torture you, not even properly interrogate you."

"Commander Treize and Romafeller are basically satisfied with just the capture of you two pilots. I don't really need to interrogate you, in fact I could have asked permission to work elsewhere and you'd just be left in the prison until you faced trial, probably years later."

Maxim faltered and the burning glow in his red eyes dwindled, leaving instead a genuine look of concern and jumbled emotions. Duo found himself holding his breath; his anger long fizzled away.

"But I became aware of what the guards might do to you, or what Ocelot might do to you," Maxim continued, suppressing a cough. "So I asked to go on Special Assignment to you. This way I could personally guarantee your safety. And there were other factors too…but that doesn't matter really."

Again, stillness and silence resounded through the dorm. It was almost as bad as a piercing scream to Duo. Maxim's speech had been powerful and had taken away the anger and fear that Duo had felt after hearing Ocelot's conversation with the tall sniper. But the braided pilot turned his back on Maxim and replied his voice barely above a whisper.

"How do I know you're telling the truth? How can I possibly trust you?"

/People've turned on me before. People've hurt me before just to get kicks and better themselves. Why not again? Why not now? Could you possibly be different?/

Again the silence and then Maxim reached out towards Duo again and turned him around to face him, but this time his touch was much gentler, almost as if Maxim was afraid of hurting Duo. For an eternity and a few instants their faces were less then inches away, each feeling the warm heat that the other gave off. Their eyes locked and both were encased in silence for minutes.

Duo couldn't pull himself out of the solemn red eyes. There they were, open, vulnerable, willing to show Duo everything that had been part of the past and every last feeling felt by Maxim. Saddened past, hard solid training, cold professional habits and soldiering. 

And wonder. Respect and the feeling of responsibility for Duo, for him. Caring, the will to protect him come Hell and high water. There was caring and still, burning deeply in the pupils the shadow of an emotion that Duo racked his brain to find a word to match.

/Love?/

-end part 4-

Feedback is welcome. Please send C&C to MasamuneEHS@hotmail.com


	5. Part 5

Perfection Breakdown- by masamune

Part 5- Adjustments

"Err…Quatre-sama?" Rashid knocked tentatively on the door to Quatre's bedroom. He hated to be the bringer of bad news. Auda and Abdul had thoroughly searched the OZ base datafiles and had double-checked. Two prisoners confirmed. 02 in 54-A and 05 in 34-C. 01 or 03 no-where to be found on the base.   


"Hai?" Quatre lifted his head from his laptop, wearily. 

Since the fiasco the Sandrock pilot had been immovable from his desk, glued to his computer, doing a very good impression of Heero. He'd been running checks on old safehouses and possible locations near the OZ base that Heero or Trowa could have gone to. 

Rashid stepped only slightly into the room. He chose his words very carefully; he hated to see Quatre upset. There wasn't much they could do from the outside. Sending Abdul and Auda had been a very risky and bold move. Neither two were well versed in espionage or covert operations. Quatre would have gone himself except Rashid had pointed out that someone had to stay behind to guard the other four Gundams. OZ troops had pursued them continuously. Battles ranging from scout team skirmishes to small platoon strikes occurred almost every two days. Sandrock was needed here, *and* so was Quatre.

"They checked the files again but still couldn't find Trowa or Heero could they?" Quatre asked softly.

"Gomen nasai Quatre-sama," Rashid replied at once. "But we found Duo and Wufei. They're undergoing the interrogation processes now. Abdul and Auda are going to set the escape tonight. They've managed to snag some old officers uniforms and will simply ask the guards to hand Duo and Wufei over to them. What they have to do is act like a bigshot sent specially by Treize. By the time anybody actually checks backgrounds they'll be done."

Quatre nodded, a tired smile spreading across his boyish, young, face. 

"I've been thinking. Was there any OZ reports of casualties on Saturday? *Enemy* casualties?" Quatre asked fearfully. If not then Trowa and Heero had probably escaped. Or at least not met their end in the OZ facility… It was the hope that they'd still emerge from this mess alive and well.

"Only OZ soldiers were killed or wounded."

"Then they must have escaped!" Quatre exclaimed happily. The situation wasn't very good, but at least they were all alive still. Simply knowing that Trowa was alive had relieved him greatly. The feelings he'd developed for the silent pilot had built up over time. Now Quatre truly understood the phrase "you never miss them until they're gone". Something in the air was lacking without him. Their room was too empty.

"If we get Wufei and Duo back we can attempt a search of the area around the base. I *know* Trowa would have gotten as far away as possible, but I don't know if they were injured."

"Don't worry then," Rashid beamed. It seemed that Quatre had perked up a little. "By tomorrow night Wufei and Duo will be back, and then we'll find the others."

He couldn't have been more wrong.

The tension in the small dormitory was stiflingly thick, but remarkably fragile. The tension created by Duo's angry shouts had seemed to disappear into the walls. Now the only sounds that could be heard was the quiet breathing of the two young men sitting on the bed.

/K'so!/ Maxim thought as he and Duo sat, staring into each other's eyes, searching the other for all possible emotions. /Why should I open up to this boy? Why am I opening up to him? I haven't been myself ever since that damn braided baka came into my life. I've got to get a hold of myself/ 

"My eyes can't be all that fascinating," Maxim finally spoke. "You aren't going to just look at them all day long are you?"

"No of course not!" Duo answered, snapping out of his deep thought. "Just that I've never seen eyes that color…they're really something." 

He gave a sheepish grin, somehow feeling that Maxim's sparkling red eyes seemed to have some magical property to them that allowed the OZ sniper to bore right through Duo's skull, exposing everything he thought and felt.

/You're really something/ Maxim thought wistfully and immediately scolded himself. /What the hell is wrong with me? Why does he affect me like this?/

"I told you earlier, but you weren't in the best shape at the time," Maxim suddenly got off the bed and stood up, seeming to tower over the smaller form of Duo, still sitting on the bed. "I got caught in an explosion at a power plant on L3. The explosion wasn't so bad, but there was some weird chemical in the container that blew up."

"Damn that sucks," Duo answered, flashing back for a minute to the dark, cold cell and Maxim stopping the doctor from raping him. It'd been the first time they'd really spoken. 

"It really only did damage to my eyes. And some lab jocks tried this new state of the art treatment on me. It wasn't legal yet, but they needed to test it somewhere and being blind…basically sucked. The other scar tissue healed over time though."

"Wow," Duo said, taking another brief glance at Maxim's eyes. The smoldering rubies seemed like any normal eyes, save their light red tint of course. "When was all this?"

"Almost 9 years ago. I was about 9 at the time," Maxim answered, his gaze going dead and his voice trailing off as he finished his response.

"What the hell were you doing in a power plant at that young age?" Duo asked with a joking, scolding tone, curiosity getting the best of him.

The braided pilot could tell that he had pried too far. Maxim's face seemed to slip on it's callous mask again and the tall youth turned away. When he finally replied his voice was quiet and lacking of all emotions, all except perhaps sadness. 

"I don't really like to talk about it," he responded as he smoothed a slight crinkle on his dresser cloth. Suddenly, the OZ soldier was overcome with feelings of pain and anger along with his remembrances of his childhood. But it wasn't long before he pushed them away and was as calm and emotionless as ever.

/Things in the past can't be changed/ Maxim told himself. /Just remember you're an OZ soldier now. Work for the mission *live* for the job, die for duty. Now get the hell back on task/

"You must be pretty hungry," he said flatly as he turned to Duo. "There's a messhall near…" His voice broke off momentarily as he made eye contact again with Duo. Something there caught him off guard.

/What does that mean, that look in his eyes?/ Duo's eyes narrowed as they tried to make out the indiscernible glimmer. 

"The messhall is close to us," Maxim finished. "I'll give you a sorta run-through of the base."

"Aren't you afraid that I'll try to escape or maybe just blow up this whole damn base?" Duo asked, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. "Can't be too careful with Shinigami around, ne?"

"Don't push my generosity," Maxim snapped back. The harsh tone in the soldier's normally dead voice quickly wiped away Duo's smirk. "I'm still a soldier. My duty is to OZ first. You couldn't have possibly forgotten what happened last Saturday."

"Ch', you got lucky," Duo said, shrugging off his embarrassment as he remembered that the mission failure was all due to this sniper, whose red eyes had almost singly handedly stopped them.

"But *you* might not be so lucky next time," Maxim replied, walking over to a large wooden closet and opening it. "But let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Maxim turned and threw an OZ uniform onto the bed, it was slightly discolored from being kept in the dim closet for so long but it was in otherwise very good shape. The metal belt buckle and leather boots still held their gleam. Duo simply stared at the outfit. His face was an expression of disgust and hatred.

"You can't possibly want me to put this on?" Duo asked, a note of fear in his voice. "You won't catch me dead in that thing, ever!" 

/Gods it hurts so much. I'm sore everywhere. It feels like that cowardly bastard is still torturing me. I can still hear his goddamned voice in my ears/ 

A very tired and hurt Wufei leaned up against the cold, hard metal wall of his cell. He'd been in Ocelot's interrogation room for hours. Though the time seemed to drag on for eternity, the Shenlong pilot had tried multiple times to enfold himself into a trance like state.

Bearing the pain was hard enough, but trying to ignore it was next to impossible. A few times Wufei had succeeded in slipping away from the real world, closing his mind from the pain and anguish.

"ITAI!!!!!"

/I screamed like a onna! Like a weak, stupid onna. How long will it go on? Am I ever going to escape this place? How long can I last before he finally breaks me and I spill every one of my secrets? Oh Nataku give me strength/

Morning came, and almost as automatically the sun rises Trowa awoke. The Heavyarms pilot was tired and had not slept well. He decided to stay in bed for a little while longer, he didn't want to disturb Heero. For countless minutes he lay still on his side. It was only when the uni-banged youth turned to check on his comrade that he noticed he was alone in the bed.

/What the hell?/ Trowa thought to himself. /Where'd he go? He shouldn't be out of bed. I should have watched him more closely/ the silent clown reprimanded himself as he gracefully slid from the bed. 

He yawned, but completely silently, as his feet touched the cool wooden floor. Trowa didn't bother to change put on fresh clothing as he slipped out of the barren bedroom. He was still clad in the white boxers he'd worn to bed the night before. Trowa crept through the small, shack always keeping his eyes and ears open for any sign of Heero.

/Don't make too much noise. Walk quietly, stay close to the walls. Wait a minute. What the hell am I doing? / The Heavyarms pilot questioned himself. /There's no danger here so there's no need to be so cautious. Now where's Heero? He's not in the bathroom. Not in his room either. In the garage? No, he'd have no reason to go in there, would he?/

It was the sound of metal connecting with metal that made Trowa react. Hearing a dull 'clank' sound emanating from nearby he'd turned around and automatically reached for his pistol. But of course he'd left his weapon under his pillow. And besides, it was probably just Heero rustling up some food.

/And what situation would I be in if it *wasn't* just Heero and I'd left my gun? / Trowa grimly thought.

The moment Trowa stepped inside Heero turned around from the counter. On the stove behind him a couple eggs crackled and spattered as they cooked. The Wing pilot was clad only in his spandex shorts, much to Trowa's viewing pleasure.

/God, he has such an incredible body. Six pack, gorgeous pecks, muscles everywhere. And he still has the young, almost boyish figure too. He's just too hot/ Trowa's mind blurted out. The emotions and feelings were undeniable and eagerly supported by the growing member in Trowa's boxers.

"Ohayo Trowa," Heero greeted groggily, but with a hint of something like cheer in his voice. "Sleep well? You've taken such good care of me I figured this is the least I could do." 

His cobalt eyes flickered but something was still not right about them. They were afraid, afraid of falling prey to the onslaught of nightmares that they knew would come on them in nightfall. Trowa took a step forward, not sure exactly what to say. His mind raced between replying, admiring Heero's body and hiding the obvious bulge in his white boxers.

/He's so up beat and happy today/ Trowa wondered to himself. /Wonder what's with him? He's moving sort of funny but he seems to be getting better/

It was then that Heero stumbled and knocked his foot into the metal base of the stove. Cursing slightly the cobalt eyed boy turned to face Trowa again. It was then that Trowa noticed that Heero was sweating and seemed to be almost off balance. His sense of equilibrium was faltering and the Wing pilot had to grip the counter to hold himself upright.

"Heero? What's wrong Heero?" Trowa asked. 

/Why do I sound so timid and concerned?/ Trowa asked himself, even as he reached out to help steady Heero. /I…I can't suppress these feelings, I can't kill them the way I've killed all the others. Why is that? What is it about Heero, about his beautiful blizzard-like Prussian blue eyes that does this to me?/

"I'm alright. It's just a little hot in here," Heero said although he kept his hand on the counter. "I'm going to turn the heat down on the stove, it's too hot in here."

/But the temperature must be about 60 degrees Fahrenheit/ Trowa automatically thought. And indeed it was somewhat chilly in the small kitchen. /There's something wrong with him. He can't even stand by himself. I can't hide what I feel for him. Maybe it's better this way? Maybe it's meant to work if we're both weak and vulnerable and dependent on each other/

Sweat glistening on his brow, Heero finally released his death grip on the countertop. He awkwardly reached towards the stove controls. He was even breathing heavily. Suddenly Heero lost his stability and slipped to the floor. His arm flung out towards the countertop but missed. The exasperated and frustrated Wing pilot felt himself falling towards the floor, silently cursing his weakness. 

It was almost an inch from the floor when Heero suddenly stopped falling. Trowa had caught him. One arm of the aloof clown had wrapped itself around Heero's waist. Opening his eyes he stared at the floor. Tiredly he then began to attempt to pick himself up. With a little bit of Trowa's help Heero managed to reach a standing position, although he was incredibly tired. The Perfect Soldier couldn't think of ever being more winded then that. He grimaced, as the burning heat in his head and throughout his body seemed to consume him.

Trowa held his arm around the sickly Wing pilot's waist. The Heavyarms pilot was silently enjoying the skin to skin touch of his arm curled around Heero, supporting his injured friend. Trowa felt his arms brush against the warm skin of Heero's hard, flat , stomach and against the Wing pilot's belly button. However Trowa only had one thought truly evident in his mind.

/Onegai. Don't let him notice my boner sticking straight into the back of his thigh/

Heero breathed deeply, his chest heaving against his friend's supporting arm. Then he again became aware of the eggs on the stove. Suddenly there was no pain, there was no dizziness or feverish warmth. There was no counter to lean against. Heero couldn't even feel Trowa's large erection sticking into the area directly below his buttocks or the strange sensations that resulted from the forbidden contact anymore. He felt numb and cold and for a second as stoic as ever. 

With an angry cry his hand lunged out and roughly slapped the stove dial. The stove flame went dead and Heero could only stare straight ahead. He was out of breath and completely drained by a regular everyday task. Heero's hand lay limply on the stove dial, as though it was no longer connected. He stared at it until it became blurry and hard to see. Heero blinked his eyes but still it seemed as if the limp hand was moving. And then he realized that his whole body was shaking. 

The shaking quickly calmed although it didn't leave, as Trowa's hand gently took hold of Heero's. Their fingers interlocked and Heero faintly felt Trowa squeeze his hand. In his weakened state the two hands seemed to mold and become one, and then Heero passed out.

-end part 5

I'm really sorry this part took so long. I honestly am not too pleased with this chapter too. = (

Well, please, if anybody is still reading this fic please send some C&C back to help me out. I'll get to part 6 soon. 

MasamuneEHS@hotmail.com


	6. Part 6

Perfection Breakdown- by masamune

Part 6

The high leather boots were tight fitting but somewhat comfortable. The pants were white, crisp and clean. They too were…tight…to say the least. The dark green uniform top was spotless and magically tucked into the soft, white pants. The empty holster hung loosely from the sparkling belt. The two hated letters gleamed and shimmered, a testament in themselves to the organization's power and nobility. The silver buttons of the jacket fit easily into their counterpart and wrapped it around the chest and back…tightly…

"How the Hell can you live in these things?" Duo asked, leaning out of the small bathroom to peek in the mirror. "It's a miracle Zechs can fight so well with these damn pants riding up his ass."

Maxim only smiled slightly at Duo's less then gracious remark about the Lightning Count. The tall soldier waited by the doorway, his back against the wall and his head down as if he were in deep thought. Waited, because Duo was most definitely taking his sweet time putting on the uniform. 

Finally snapping the last buckle into place and slightly adjusting the belt Duo looked into the mirror. Even though he frowned at the fact that he was wearing an OZ uniform Duo had to admit the ensemble was very impressive. And despite the very constricting size it was surprisingly comfortable.

/Man I look good in this thing!/ Duo thought to himself as a smile broke out across his face. /If this wasn't the enemy uniform I'd go out and buy this outfit any day. Wish the pants were a little baggier though/

Duo stepped out of the bathroom and walked over to where Maxim stood. The quiet OZ soldier raised his head. His shimmering red eyes peered out from under his brownish bangs, glimmering with a plain look of interest. If Duo didn't know any better, he'd say the OZ gunman was checking him out.

"You look good in it," Maxim said finally.

/Hai, definitely checking me out. Although he looks pretty *good* too/ Duo thought as blushed slightly in reply. /Blushing? I've gotten better compliments before and none of them even slightly effect me. So why do his?/

"Couldn't you've gotten some bigger pants though?" Duo joked as he tried in vain to loosen the white fabric's grip on his waist. "These things sure don't need a belt on them. Guess that's there for decoration."

"Gomen," Maxim apologized, "Those pants were mine. I'll try to get another pair tomorrow."

Duo gazed up at Maxim. The youth was almost a full foot taller then Duo. Duo suddenly wondered exactly how old the mysterious gunman was. Although he still had a boyish look, his face was almost worn with an experienced and pained mask. 

"These were yours?" Duo asked as he gently fingered the cloth material, as though it was suddenly a priceless relic. "They're so small and in such good shape. How long ago did you join OZ?"

"We were the Specials then," Maxim answered as his voice drifted off slightly in reminiscence. "All of us were bright, young, foolish. I was originally one of the few members with actual combat experience. This was all before the coup. I guess I joined because I had no place to go and the only thing I knew how to do was fight and kill."

Again Duo looked down at the uniform he wore. Even he knew when to stop perusing a conversation. /He seems to have a very mysterious past. He's so mature and serious, he almost reminds me of Heero. Exactly how old could he have been when he entered the military?/ he wondered.

"Lets go to the cafeteria," Maxim smiled suddenly, doing his best to put back on a cheery face. "I'll have Torres cook you something special. I'll bet you're pretty damn hungry ne?"

Duo's stomach rumbled and Maxim grinned. The tall sniper opened the dormitory door and exited with Duo following behind.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a dull pain that ached through all of Wufei's bones. His arms were especially sore and the Chinese youth shuddered as he rubbed them. The mere remembrance of the interrogation was enough to shake the young warrior. It was no longer a fight against an unjust and cowardly actions. The whole noble process had devolved into the simple struggle to stay conscious, to stay awake, and to push the fear away as much as possible. 

/I screamed/ Wufei recalled faintly. 

Truly the amassed hours spent in the white room seemed to be an entire lifetime of pain and suffering. Strapped to the always-buzzing machine, electrodes sticking into his arms, Wufei had soon ceased trying to be noble. At first it was about remaining calm and ignoring the pain. However it was proved that such tactics didn't work. Then it became a struggle to keep his cries to a whimper and to hold back his tears. Now the proud Chinese youth was struggling just to hang on to conciseness. His strength was long gone, and his pride stripped away. All he had left now was his will. 

/For a moment I almost wanted to give up/ Wufei's thoughts were his only companion in the dark cell. /All I wanted to do was divulge all my secrets to them, tell them everything, anything to end the pain./

He was afraid. Chang Wufei, last of his noble bloodline was afraid of a machine and a small mustachioed OZ officer. He was afraid of letting loose any information amidst his throes of anguish. He didn't want to feel any more pain. That's when the sounds of voices outside his cell startled him. 

/Again? They've come to torture me again?/ He thought wildly and his body shook at the fear of another "session". He didn't think his body could even survive another interrogation so soon after.

/Iie…those voices sound…familiar?/ 

Wufei's mind began to search back, past the time of his capture. As he tried to identify the new, but somewhat recognizable voices, he moved closer to the cell door. Pressing his ear against the cold metal, he could faintly make out some of the conversation going on outside.

"…authorization? From what I know this is an important prisoner," it was a guard's voice, one Wufei had heard on previous occasions. 

"You don't know much of anything," A voice shot back. "We were sent to take this prisoner to another facility. We have orders from General Treize himself! It would be quite foolish of you to stand in our way."

"You could be court-martialed if you don't watch it," another voice came. They were both so familiar and yet… Wufei still couldn't' place them.

"Yo Justin! When the brass interfere you just let them do whatever they want!" another guard's voice.

It was at this point that Wufei backed away from the door. A mixture of fear and curiosity ran through his mind. The sound of an access code being punched in rang out loud and clear. 

/Treize sent them? What's going on? What would Treize want with me? Why do they sound so familiar?/

The heavy metal door was pushed open. The dazzlingly bright light blinded Wufei but was quickly blocked by the image of three men standing in the doorway.

/Why are Abdul and Auda here?/ He thought as a smile plain as day spread across Wufei's lips.

The two Arab friends walked over and stood above Wufei. The Chinese warrior recognized the third man as one of the regular guards. He was in fact Wufei's personal favorite as he had been the one to return heat to the freezing cell. Now the man was frowning and seemed to be wondering whether or not Auda and Abdul were telling the truth.

"Let's get him out of here," Abdul said turning him to Auda, "Commander Treize will be eager to hear of our progress," he added as an afterthought, although he smiled in a way that only Wufei could see.

/Thank the Gods!/ Wufei thought as the guard named Justin bent down and removed the shackles from Wufei's arms. /They must be here to get me out/

Wufei stood up and shot a defiant smile at the guards as he passed them. Auda said something to the guards as Justin shut the cell door. Abdul helped Wufei walk, holding the Asian noble as if he were still a prisoner. The three walked off down the hallway, away from the guard station and towards freedom.

"I don't like it one goddamn bit!" One guard spat as the trio departed. "Fuckin' ragheads! I've never heard of all that bullshit going on before! Then they ask where cellblock A is and where 54-A is. Damn officers act like they own the whole world."

"Stuff like this happens all the time," another one whispered. "When I was posted in Madrid these two prisoners just disappeared one day. The executives and Romafeller do whatever they want. I'm not going to interfere. It's usually best to keep your mouth shut in these situations."

Justin walked over to the phone and picked it up. "I don't like it either. I smell something bad ya know? I'm just going to make a call and check something."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wufei looked down disdainfully at the clothes Abdul had handed him. There was a pair of ugly gray pants and a matching beige shirt. It was a janitor's outfit.

"I have to wear this?" Wufei asked with a plainly. "I mean is it that necessary?"

"It was hard enough convincing those guards to let you go," Auda said, "The least you could do is be grateful and put this on. You'll have better cover as a janitor then as a prisoner."

Reluctantly Wufei agreed and began to put on the dirty uniform. It hung off of him loosely and he realized for the first time how much weight he'd lost. 

"Auda, you know the way to Duo right?" Abdul asked as the two waited for Wufei to change.

"Hai," Auda replied curtly, "That guard back there told me. It's on the other side of the base actually."

"Shimatta! Just our luck ne?" Abdul stamped the floor. "I can't stand this place… the sooner we get out the better. You know where the transport bay is right?"

"Heh, you've got no sense of direction. We passed it earlier. So we'll have to go rescue Duo and then return to the transport bay. Hopefully we'll be done within two hours."

Abdul nodded. "Hai…hopefully."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

/He's very hungry/ Maxim observed as Duo wolfed down his second helping of sashimi. /Perhaps hungry is too slight a term to describe appetite of this proportion. Let's try ravenous. To eat like that and still have his body…it boggles the mind/

The two sat at a small table in the cafeteria. The messhall was actually rather comfortable. The walls and ceiling were light blue and the floor had a nice checkered pattern. The chairs had soft red cushions and the room was even furnished with an occasional plant. 

When Duo had finished eating there'd been an awkward silence that fell over the two. Duo found himself at a loss for words as he looked at the OZ soldier. 

Maxim was tall, standing almost a full head over Duo. The OZ gunman was solidly built but not bulky. His slim figure still obtained an almost boyish look. His hair was a soft sandy brown and seemed to have a reddish tint. The soldier's skin was rather pale and Duo had decided that it'd been forever since Maxim had last seen a beach. All in all Duo had to admit that Maxim was handsome…to say the least. 

"Why did you come to this base anyway?" Maxim finally broke the silence. Duo's brow wrinkled and Maxim decided to rephrase the question. "I mean, why did you Gundam pilots choose this base as a target? And why didn't you use your Gundams? Why go in on foot where you're more vulnerable?"

"Why should I tell you?" Duo replied with a cheeky smile. "You'd think this was an interrogation, ne?"

"It is," Maxim's voice was dry and serious. Duo's smile faded as the sniper's expression became very callous and cold suddenly. "I'm assigned to interrogate you. I suggest you answer my questions as best you can…unless you want to be back in your cell?"

/I hate to have to be so harsh towards him/ Maxim thought to himself wistfully. /But it seems he won't cooperate otherwise. But…I'm not even so sure I'd lock him up again. Yesterday I would have, but not now. What's going on with me?/

"We came to sabotage the Velius prototype," Duo said at last, suddenly feeling sick wearing an Oz uniform and telling secrets to the enemy. 

"Velius operations and all other Zodiac based prototypes have been scrapped already," Maxim replied, not making a word of sense to Duo. "The new prototypes for the Aries, Cancer and Leo units were scrapped."

"Then what is going on here?" Duo asked. "Security was pretty damn tight here, unusually so."

Maxim hesitated for a second and then leaned forward as if telling a secret that could be disastrous if overheard. His red eyes gleamed with a spark that Duo recognized as seeing in the face of ambitious salesmen before they sold a product. 

"Mobile doll system," Maxim whispered as if anything louder would cause an avalanche. "Romafeller's been pouring in funds for it. If it's completed then OZ will be unstoppable."

"What does it do?" Duo finally asked, becoming aware that perhaps Maxim shouldn't be disclosing this information. 

"The mobile doll system can be loaded into the new Taurus models," Maxim said, keeping his voice down. "The system plays the role of a pilot. But unlike any regular human it doesn't make mistakes… at least not often. It can push the suit to its limits and its reaction time is higher then most normal humans."

Duo sat, quite stunned at what he had just learned. If he managed to get back to the others then this information could prove helpful. Both youths seemed to let the silence sit for itself. Then Duo asked the question that both knew was coming.

"Why are you telling me this?" Duo's voice was horse and he was surprised that he was letting his anxiety show so much.

"Let's just say I'm against this particular technological advancement," Maxim answered. "Personally I'm against these mobile dolls. If battles are left to machines, it's only a massacre ne? This situation has actually made me question my loyalty to OZ… I've even had thoughts of sabotaging the system…"

A wicked smirk spread over Duo's face and Maxim couldn't help but think /Why oh why is he so damn kawaii? I would never tell anyone about my discontent with OZ…so why him?/

"You wouldn't want me to perhaps…" Duo began, his violet gaze locking with Maxim's.

"Don't even think about it," Maxim cut him off curtly. 

"Surely you wouldn't mind if an 'accident' happened?" Duo pressed even deeper trying to gauge the sniper's seriousness about acting against OZ.

"I thought I was running this interrogation," The red eyes flickered but no other sign of emotion was visible. "And that brings me to my next question. Who is Heero? Is he another Gundam pilot?"

/Shimatta, I hadn't even thought about Heero/ Duo thought, but he nodded and immediately cursed himself for the action. /Look at me! I'm having dinner with an OZ officer, wearing an OZ uniform and giving information away/

"Hm?" Maxim moved in even closer and Duo could feel the heat of the soldier's breath. The Deathscythe pilot really wanted to reply but couldn't think of anything else other than the man in front of him. 

"Oi Maxim! Phone's for you!" 

Duo was saved by the convenient interruption. Maxim's head snapped away suddenly. The gunman stood up from his chair and walked over to where Torres, the chef, was holding the phone for him. With a slight frown Maxim pressed the receiver to his ear.

"Sergeant Maxim Andalsaar," He answered, his deep voice was as calm and serious as ever. 

Duo watched from afar as the sniper slipped on his callous mask. Even though it was only a phone call, Maxim's entire face and atmosphere had changed completely. He had just been friendly and almost excited while talking with Duo. Now his voice was that of a drone, taught and instructed to have no emotions. Indeed other then the fiery red jewels, Maxim seemed to be almost robotic.

/He's a lot like Heero that way/ Duo thought quietly to himself while Maxim was occupied. /He's always so professional and strong. He's a lot like Heero in those ways…maybe that's why I feel so comfortable around him? Is that part of the reason I find myself thinking about him at night instead of Heero?/

/He is handsome…very handsome…drop dead drool on the floor gorgeous is probably the best term for him/ Duo thought as a smile spread across his face. /He's so much like Heero and yet… completely different. Heero is always cold, always so detached from his emotions… Maxim's different. K'so! If I keep thinking I'll be in his bed by tomorrow night…not that that's such a bad idea though…/

Maxim hung up the phone and wheeled around. The tall gunman was caught somewhat off guard to find Duo staring straight at him. Duo flushed a very deep crimson color. Maxim walked over to the table but made no move to sit again. Duo hoped in earnest that the ruby-eyed youth wouldn't notice his erection. The OZ pants didn't do very much good in the way of hiding such things. 

"Come with me," Maxim said softly. Duo noticed that the soldier's voice sounded distant. "We're going to take a short trip back to your old cell."

-end part 6

Note: Well this part took awhile. Mostly due to my incredible laziness. (That and the fact that I smoked entirely too much weed this past weekend) I didn't put in as many scenes as usual, I just tried to go into deeper detail. I think this part was pretty good actually. Next chapter will be quite the show so don't miss it. 

And as always please send comments to [MasamuneEHS@hotmail.com][1] Arigato!

   [1]: mailto:MasamuneEHS@hotmail.com



	7. Part 7- Misunderstanding

Perfection Breakdown

Part 7- Misunderstanding

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of it's characters… so there!

Archive: If anybody's interested in archiving this fic, or any others, please contact me.

Thanks to my Beta readers!!!! Whoooh they do a lot of work!

The disheveled gray sky threw its grim light down on everything in sight. Relentlessly falling, the rain showed no sign of letting up. Endlessly falling, millions at a time, they bombarded the Earth. Creating a soft, random pattern of music as they hit the windowpane. None did any particular damage, but all joined together on the brown dirt and soaked and cracked the strong rock. The moment one had landed, a hundred others were following right behind. It was as if it would go on forever, like an infinite curse on the entire planet. Millions of drops fell and landed, millions followed, and the storm would have cleared with in just an hour.

Listening to the raindrops Trowa had begun to lose track of time. He was oblivious to the fact that he had sat, without moving for over three hours, in the rather uncomfortable chair by Heero's bed. The silent clown's head was bowed and he was deep in thought. Almost in a dream like state he sat guard over his friend. His brow was creased in thought. 

Soft moaning broke Trowa's thoughts. Heero was writhing around on the bed, making small noises and shaking his head from side to side. The proud visage was distraught in pain and fright, as if running from an enemy hunting in the shadows. 

/He's got a bad fever now/ Trowa assessed Heero's condition with a critical eye. /Before it was more of a mental problem…now his physical health is waning rapidly too. I want to take him to a doctor, but that would be far too dangerous. I wish I could help somehow/

He broke his gaze from the window and looked at Heero. Taking in the sight of his injured partner, Trowa felt no shame in the emotions that rushed through him. It had been a long time since Trowa had acknowledged such feelings. 

/Killing my emotions for so long…I thought that I'd never feel like this again. There's no use denying it or trying to bury them. I think that I'm in love with Heero Yuy. And if not love, then it's something very close to it. Nobody, not even Quatre could make me feel the way I do now. My fear of being hurt again doesn't hold me back now. But I wonder why?/

"Dad?"

Internal reflection broken, Trowa got up upon hearing the soft cry. He moved to Heero's side and knelt there. Heero's face was ashen and grief stricken. Glimmering sweat beaded on his forehead and the Wing pilot's lips were moving rapidly, as if trying to communicate with someone.

"Daddy? Onegai, gomen nasai Daddy…. Iie! Iie, onegai!" Heero's voice broke off into a chain of sobs. 

It was more than Trowa could bear to watch. He couldn't watch the one he loved suffer. Shaken by a terrible nightmare, dark memories of a hard past to leave him trembling and cold. Trowa began to gently shake the Asian boy and tried with all his might to pry Heero from the prison of dreams. 

/He may need rest/ Trowa thought to himself as his heart went out to the distraught warrior, /But he doesn't deserve nightmares. The pains, it always happens to people like Heero, people like me…/

"Iie! I'll be better, I'll train harder!" Heero cried weakly, unable to break back into reality.

"It's me Heero. It's Trowa," Trying to comfort and console Heero, Trowa wiped the sweat away from Heero's brow. "Wake up Heero! It's only a dream, please wake up!"

After being shaken a fifth time Heero bolted straight up in the bed. A final heart-wrenching cry died in his throat, as his surroundings became clear. Mind foggy, and body racked by temperature and fever, Heero could make out only one thing in the room, Trowa.

"Trowa?" more of a whimper then a question, Heero's voice was almost covered by the sound of the falling rain outside. "Nani? Where…?"

"You were only dreaming Heero," Trowa said, "Don't worry now."

/I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you/ was what he really wanted to say.

A wet stream ran down Heero's face. A saddening cascade of emotions followed, all in the form of Heero's tears. The Latin boy's once dead heart went out completely to his comrade. Heero's tear stained cobalt eyes peered into Trowa's sea green depths. Both boys sat, gazing into the other's eyes, with the rain as the only cover for their emotions. Out of nowhere Heero suddenly threw himself forward and buried his face in Trowa's shoulder. Muffled sobs and heavy tears were spent repeatedly into the silent clown's chest.

Minutes passed and Trowa found himself holding Heero's shaken frame for all he was worth. His lanky arms latched themselves around Heero's waist. Pressing the Wing pilot against his body Trowa couldn't help but feel a sense of happiness that was almost alien to his heart.

"Will you ever leave me Trowa?" A wracked sob escaped Heero. Turning his face upward, Heero's eyes held a desperate plea in themselves.

/Gods! I love you! I will never leave your side, never. Nothing could separate me from you/

"Nothing could ever make me leave," Trowa sighed heavily and pulled Heero's face towards his own. The two pairs of eyes met and locked on each other. Still holding the gaze into Heero's cobalt sea Trowa leaned forward and embraced Heero in a passionate kiss.

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/Maybe Justin's wrong… maybe the heads of Romafeller actually did send people for pilot 05/ Maxim thought as he opened the door to the prison area. Glancing behind him slightly he caught sight of Duo, confused by Maxim's moves. /What if they're here to take Duo too?/ He feared silently.

/Should have left him back in the room/ Something clicked in Maxim's mind, old soldier instincts and once sought out advice returned. /The boy could be trouble. If there is something fishy… he could be downright dangerous. Never forget that he's a Gundam pilot/

"Where are we going?"

Maxim turned to face Duo. The fear and anxiety in the question was unsettling. It wasn't like Maxim was betraying him. They each belonged to opposing factions. But the whole process felt sneaky and underhanded to the tall sniper. They were close to the guard station…Maxim didn't dare bring Duo any closer.

"I want you to stay right here," Dead, unemotional, the voice of a soldier. "I'll be back to get you soon, I just need to check something out." Maxim lowered his voice and almost whispered to Duo, "You can try to run… but you'll never make it out of this base without a registration card. I'd hate to have to track you down a second time."

"No need to worry buddy," Duo cheerily said, clapping a hand on the stoic sniper's back. "You've been acting all weird recently. I'm not going to try to put anything past you."

Maxim couldn't help but smile a little as he stood up and walked over to the guard station. Two men seemed to be in a heated argument with the guards there. One was waving his arms and the other just tapped his foot on the metal floor.

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Peeping out from around the corner Duo found himself staring after Maxim as he made his way up to the other OZ members. Moving out of sight of the guard station he decided to wait in a rather shadowed hallway. He found himself staring at the floor and thinking to himself.

/Something's wrong/ Duo thought as he sat back on the hard floor, his back resting against the wall. /Ever since he got that phone call in the dining hall he's been acting strange… Maybe it's about Wufei? Man, I haven't you thought about him since we got caught… Perhaps I should go pay him a visit…But I did promise Maxim that I'd wait here for him/

"I should gut you right here you filthy fucking traitor."

Duo looked up from the floor only to have a strong hand hit him in the neck. The sudden impact sent him gasping for breath and knocked his skull back against the metal wall.

/Nani? Where? Who the hell's there? That voice…/ 

Duo's thoughts were scrambled. The darkness in the hallway only added to his confusion. The strong arm held him against the wall and with sick horror Duo realized that there was a gleaming object in the fist. Duo saw the small knife sparkle in the hands of the attacker. His mind was cleared of the fog the sudden smack had caused and the attacker's face was clearly visible, outlined sinisterly by the dark shadows.

"Wufei?"

And indeed it was Wufei. Angry, dark opal eyes glared out from under slivers of raven black hair. Wufei's hair was no longer drawn back in the tight, short ponytail that Duo recognized. Instead it fell carelessly at Wufei's shoulders and wayward strands hung over his face, giving the Shenlong pilot an insane demeanor. Duo noticed knicks, bruises and very recent cuts on Wufei's face and especially his arm. 

"Whoa man! Boy am I glad to see you," Duo started cheerily. "What've they been doing to you? How'd you manage to escape?"

"Wouldn't you and the rest of your OZ buddies simply die to know that?" Wufei said, his tone dark and serious. 

/Uh oh/ Duo recognized the threatening sound in Wufei's words. /What the hell's going on? What's wrong with him?/

"Hey Wu-man," Duo started, his cheery tone falling away slightly in caution. "What's the big ide…ACK!"

"Quiet!" Wufei snapped, and landed a solid fist in Duo's gut. The air rushed out of his lungs but the captured Deathscythe pilot could only gasp slightly, still all too aware of the glittering knife-edge. "Keep your voice down," Wufei was whispering but his words seemed to fill the entire space around the two. "I'll let your stupid blabbermouth run… if only for a little while. Just keep it down you filthy traitor."

/Traitor? What's he talking about?/ Duo's mind was a haggle of confusion. Having the wind knocked out of him only added to the mania. /Man that punch really hurt/

"Listen, I really don't know what you're talking about Wufei," Duo said slowly, wondering what in the world could have set Wufei off in such a way.

"Ch'!" Wufei spat and another fist caused shooting pains through Duo's ribs. "Don't think I know what's going on? Your goddamn OZ buddy is going over there to arrest Abdul and Auda. They'll be caught and tortured. Tortured Maxwell! I'll bet you've never known such pain in your life!" Wufei snarled angrily and almost struck again. "They know the location of every safehouse we have! They're not real soldiers they'll tell if he gets his hands on them!" Wufei's voice was frantic and filled with fear.

"He? Who's he? Abdul and Auda are here? Nani? I don't understand what's going on Wufei," Filled with apprehension and scared trust, Duo's voice floated up softly. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Kisama! You lie!" Wufei's voice was tinged with scorn and vehemence. But his mind was no longer entirely convinced of the fact that Duo really had turned traitor… even if he was wearing an OZ uniform. "You lie!" He repeated, "Guess you had to be good at it to deceive us in the first place. I'll cut your lying throat apart! Fucking traitor! You won't be around to tell secrets to anybody!" 

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/These guys really don't sound like real officers/ Maxim was thinking. /They're acting strange for people "sent from high up". I understand why Justin thought he smelled a rat. And what could they have wanted with 05? Where is he now anyway?/

The stoic, long time OZ soldier had patiently waited for over five minutes, listening to the conversation. Apparently the two men wanted to open cell 54-A, Duo's former cell. The two Arab-looking men wore shining black suits and insisted that they could not give information on who had sent them. The guards had given them a tough time. Eventually they had fallen into the trap about the "sent from Romafeller's higher executives" but now were more suspicious.

/It's all very funny actually/ Maxim thought as the skinnier Arab jumped up and down in fury. /They can't find where the prisoner was transferred to because he wasn't transferred anywhere. They can't find out if there was any orders concerning him because Special Assignments are classified to only the highest ranks and the people directly involved… Besides, the whole thing is almost certainly stuck in red tape so only Treize-sama and myself know about it yet/

And indeed all three of the burly, machismo-dripping guards were now digging through computer files looking for any trace of Gundam pilot 02. The smaller of the two Arab "executives" was very upset and would often scream and yell while the other stood quietly at the side, looking sort of ashamed at his partner's behavior.

"You have absolutely NO idea where pilot 02 is?!?" Abdul loudly demanded for probably the fourth time in the past five minutes. 

"Goddamnit no man! Shit, I mean… sir. No sir, we can't find any trace of him at all," One franticly searching guard said, pulling his head away from the computer monitor to answer.

"Blockheads! Bakas!" Abdul cursed something violent in Arabic and Auda shifted his weight. 

"I've never even seen the kid," Another said timidly, "He was checked in by the late shift, I don't even know what to look for."

"I worked late that night," A third shouted from one of the farther consoles. Maxim noticed that it was the one he had threatened to castrate the first night Duo had awoken. "He's just listed under Pilot 02 Cell 54-A. But I still can't find much of anything on him." The guard noticed Maxim standing at the desk and an evil smirk spread over his face as he said, "Check with Mr. Glow-in-the-dark over there. He seemed real interested in the kid when he first came in."

"You there, do you know anything?" The small Arab, Abdul, whirled on Maxim in a flurry.

"Sergeant Maxim Andalsaar 0SC12A," Maxim said as he saluted crisply. 

"Other than your name, rank and fucking serial number?!?" The excited 'officer' demanded. "What do you know about pilot 02?"

Maxim was about to speak when a soft gasp came from one of the guards at the station. "What the hell? Looks like something weird's going on," the man said in wonder and pointed to one of the security monitors. Bending over to get a better view Maxim saw that the picture was of a dark hallway not too far away. 

/Picture looks like a janitor is harassing somebody/ He assessed the grainy picture with his hard, red eyes.

"Shit, think that guy's got a knife," The one guard said, his voice sounding stupid and naïve as if he were watching a movie on TV. 

The large Arab man gasped as he looked at the picture too. Maxim squinted and thought he could vaguely make out a long, brown braid on the boy. He was wearing an OZ uniform.

/Duo!/ It all suddenly clicked in Maxim's head.

"Shimatta!" The sniper cursed as he turned on his heel and ran for the hallway where he'd left Duo. The guards looked up, all stupidly trying to assess the situation. "Don't touch him or you're a dead motherfucker!" Maxim cried out as he neared the corner, hoping he wasn't already too late.

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The cold steel couldn't feel or even care about the life of Duo Maxwell, but Maxim did. And the force with which he screamed the angry decree was enough to send it bouncing off the indifferent metal. The angry shout echoed off and reached the ears of the two young boys not too far off. 

"Kuso!" Wufei spat. 

His beserked, dark eyes that had once been so filled with passion and the want of justice were no scanning the surrounding area for a rapid exit. Wufei's mind was quickly whisked away from vengeance to survival. Seeing no escape except back down the long, dark corridor he had entered through Wufei was ready to make a run for it. 

Still glimmering, the knife slipped back into the gray cuff of the janitor's uniform. Even as it disappeared from sight Duo took a breath and the air of death and doom seemed to slip from the room. 

In a moment Wufei was up and running, his slim form quickly disappearing into the blackness. Duo straightened himself up and pushed off the wall. He was greeted by Maxim, who came careening around the corner and into the hall. In a rush, the tall soldier was at his side, quickly checking for any damage. 

"Where'd he go?" Maxim asked, his voice unnaturally calm but strong and commanding. Duo couldn't answer, his mind still taking in all that had just happened to him. "Where'd he go Duo?!?!" Maxim raised his voice but still the young American was speechless.

It was just as Maxim's voice faded that the sound of rapid footsteps reached his ears. Turning to peer into the darkness, his eyes flashed with soldierly instincts. His arm reached out and flicked a switch nearby. Light flooded the hall, accompanied by the dumb sound of electronic whirring. A long way down the hall Wufei's figure could be spotted fleeing rapidly, almost to the end, approaching the bend that would be his freedom.

Maxim went for his pistol. Drawing the long black firearm he squinted slightly. The distance between him and the target was absurd. Duo could barely see Wufei but he suddenyl flashed back to the night he'd been captured. An image of Maxim, rifle dangling at his side, just after shooting Duo. The shot had been in the dark, the gun had been more accurate but in the light… was it possible Maxim could hit his mark?

/Got him/ Maxim thought, his aim suddenly becoming clear as his eyes quickly adjusted to the bright light. 

"Iie!!!!" Duo suddenly came to his senses. He flung himself into Maxim's shooting arm. Gloved fingers wrapped familiarly around the pistol. Maxim squeezed the trigger just as Duo hit him. The bullet smacked terribly and dug itself into the floor. The gunshot echoed down the long corridor. 

Maxim roughly pushed Duo away from him. He looked up to aim another shot but found in horror that the hallway was empty. Wufei had escaped. Maxim spit and cursed himself. He took a glance to the side, Duo was there, in a heap on the floor, his chest heaving. Brushing aside the thought that maybe he should help Duo up Maxim holstered his pistol instead. His eyes met with Duo's. Bitter angry tension made the red orbs crackle and shine with an intense, dark look. 

Pushing himself to his feet Duo rushed to say something but no worthwhile words could came to his mind. Maxim turned away from him, and a cold quiet stillness fell to rest over the two of them. 

Standing, fuming at his failure Maxim finally grasped the only words he could possibly will. "Back to the room," he said in a dark, serious hush.

-end part 7


	8. Urgent Decision

Perfection Breakdown- by masamune- [MasamuneEHS@hotmail.com][1]

Disclaimer: Don't own GW and will never unless Bandai gives me the boys as a belated birthday gift… Well, I can dream at least, and write about them too.

Archive: If you want this fic or any of my others, feel free to grab it.

Part 8- Urgent Decision

"Treize-sama will see you now," The secretary said, voice empty and bored.

Maxim stood up, leaving the comfort of the plush red chair, and straightened out any creases in his uniform. Adjusting his holster he walked towards the large oak doors. His mind shuddered at the thought of the reprieve he was about to receive from his commanding officer. It was just his luck that Treize was visiting the base to observe the mobile doll tests.

/Everything is blown to hell/ He thought to himself darkly. /Not only does 05 escape, but those two nimrod Arabs do too! I should have been able to see through their guise, and I most certainly should have taken down 05. He stole a mobile suit, made a wreck in the number 2 hangar bay, and its all my fault/

Opening the doors Maxim stepped into the grand office. It was elaborately decorated and adorned everywhere with the OZ commander's most beloved flower, roses. Soft, soothing, classical music floated off of an antique record player. The carpeted stretch from the entrance to the desk seemed to lengthen as Maxim walked it. Treize sat, hunched over a paper, writing furiously.

Stopping just in front of the desk Maxim stood sharply at attention. He was nervous. As calm and reserved as the sniper normally was, he was nothing more then another petty soldier now, in front of Treize he was just another young man. And behind his respect for the strong, genteel OZ leader there also lingered a wretched premonition; stalking like a wolf it preyed on Maxim's mind but remained masked and hidden.

"At ease. Permission to speak freely is granted and encouraged," Treize said quickly, not breaking to even look up from his paper. 

Silence loomed for all except that sound of Treize's scribbling pen and the soft Baroque music.

"Ahh," Treize sighed and set down his pen. "What I need is a good stiff drink," He mused, making eye contact with Maxim for the first time. 

"Shall I give my report on the prisoner escape Treize-sama?" Maxim asked, his voice flat save a sliver of forced respect and regard.

"Iie, iie, that's fine Sergeant Andalsaar," Treize shook his head. "Maxim Andalsaar correct? Come, let's not be so stiff and formal, relax. May I simply call you Max?" 

/Grr… I hate that name/ Maxim thought but managed a smile.

"Special assignment is rare," Treize began, almost as if reciting a lesson, no emotion or passion at all. Indeed Treize's entire atmosphere seemed to have been changed by something. "Hearing of your valiant performance in the capture of the two Gundam pilots I accepted your request to be assigned to pilot 02."

"It wasn't his fault that 05 escaped sir," Maxim said quickly, not meaning to interrupt but very much wanting to protect Duo. "I take all of the blame for that incident. I…"

"No need to blame yourself. I've already seen the video tape… and so has Romafeller," Treize cut in. "To be perfectly honest Max, you are lucky to be alive. You're lucky that 02 did not take the opportunity to kill you and escape."

"What would you have me do now sir?" Maxim asked, totally ashamed of his failure.

Treize sighed and turned his chair around to look outside. The cold night was crisp and clean. The lights of the base marred a view of the stars. Maxim followed Treize's gaze into the outside, landing on the facility that housed the mobile doll research program and engineers. 

"I hate them," Treize said suddenly, hardly whispering but speaking loud enough for Maxim to hear. The startled young soldier had absolutely no clue what to say. "I hate them and I hate what they stand for. I hate what I've become to stand for…But, may I ask, what is your position on the mobile doll system, Max?"

/That's what's bothering him? Hate himself? What could he possibly be talking about? / Maxim wondered, putting curiosity away and racking his brain for a suitable answer. 

"I've never seen them in action sir. But I am not fond of the idea," He replied at last.

"At this rate…OZ will change completely," Treize sighed. "I've often thought as of late that I should leave OZ before my morals and ideals are directly opposed to the Foundation's. Now that I've carried out the coup d'etat where is there need for me? Romafeller wants a puppet, and I won't be one for them."

The room stood in broken silence even as Maxim tried to absorb all he had just heard. Then, as if just noticing the tall sniper for the first time, as if he'd been speaking entirely to himself, Treize turned and addressed Maxim.

"Max, I'm very sorry to have to do this but I must remove 02 from your watch. I am officially abolishing your assignment to him tomorrow at 0900 hours."

It came like a tornado, landing seemingly from nowhere and tearing al it hit to bits. Maxim physically reeled from the frank words, more so then if he had been actually struck. His mind was now a mess, everything out of order and impossible to shift through the rubble. Thoughts flew and crashed into each other and nothing made sense.

/Iie! I can't let this happen! What the hell is going on! Why?/

"Why?" The sniper cried out, his face twisted in agony.

"The Gundam pilots are a threat, even after being captured," Treize replied, keeping his voice even. "05 proved that. Something needs to be done to show that we're actually winning this fight. Since neither pilot has given us any information they can only pose a threat to us. 02 is to be publicly executed tomorrow."

/This can't be happening! This can't be real! I'm going to lose Duo/ But the power and sincerity in Treize's voice made him realize that it was going to happen. /What can I do? Will I tell Duo? How can I tell him? Kuso! I feel so helpless and weak now. I can't even protect the one I care about the most/

The idea hit him then like a thunderclap. Maxim considered this dangerous proposal he was already forming out in is head, checking over to make sure it was feasible. It was ludicrous of course but at this point the tall, OZ gunman had no choice, and only firm resolve to carry through with his newly hatched plot.

"At what time would you like 02ready for execution sir?" Maxim asked crisply, a sudden need to get out of the room overtaking him. 

Treize turned away towards the window again and stood a while before he responded, "Soldiers will remove him from your custody at 0900 hours. I'm truly sorry to have to do this Max."

"Very well. It's all for the glory and honor of OZ and yourself, Treize-sama. Is there anything else I can do to assist you, Treize-sama?" The cool, expressionless mask slipped back on Maxim rather easily.

"Actually yes," Maxim stopped in his tracks. "Lady Une wishes to speak to you, she will be on phone line D3 in 20 minutes. The password is "Mason". She'll talk to you for a while but other then that, there is nothing."

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Quatre sat at his computer screen, finishing off the repair estimates for Sandrock and the few other Maganacs that had been damaged in a recent skirmish with OZ Leos. The light attack had been nothing, but Quatre, seeing that OZ could very possibly be close to finding this safehouse had ordered yet another move. The whines and roars of machinery could be heard below him, as Rashid and his crew were busy readying the 4 Gundams, that had sat unoccupied for over a week, for the departure. 

Quatre looked up as his door opened and a rather tired and tattered Wufei entered. 

/Thank God!/ The Arab boy thought jubilantly. A broad smile broke across his face but was disrupted as he also thought, /Where's Duo? Trowa and Heero are still lost somewhere out there… maybe dead/

"Quatre," Wufei grunted in greeting, the words barely able to escape his parched lips. The Shenlong pilot collapsed into a chair.

Quatre couldn't stop staring at Wufei. If the proud Chinese noble could have seen himself he would have been outraged. His hair was loose, falling messily past his shoulders, grime and dirt spots covered his body He had lost weight, practically swimming in the janitor's uniform he had escaped in, it was huge on him. Quatre could immediately tell something terrible had happened to Wufei, but as he looked into his friend's dark, onyx eyes he knew it was worse than he could ever know.

"Are you Ok? Do you want to rest?" Quatre asked, care for his friend holding strong over the urge to riddle Wufei with questions that had tormented his heart for days.

"Iie, I'm fine," Wufei said coldly, almost snapping back at the timid blonde. 

He sat there for a minute, breathing heavily and staring off at nothing. Quatre immediately went to his friend's side, worry and fear shaking him. Quatre's aquamarine gaze locked with Wufei's and something was silently exchanged between the two that absolutely confirmed the blonde's fear that physical harm had come to his friend.

"What happened?" Quatre finally managed to ask.

"The mission was going well," Wufei began, pausing momentarily to think back to the night of his capture. It seemed so long ago. "Maxwell and I were waiting for Heero to unlock one of the doors, it never opened. A sniper shot Maxwell, and both of us were captured." As he finished Wufei bowed his head.

/Trowa! I need to know what happened to Trowa/ Quatre wanted to scream aloud. /How the hell could this mission have gone so wrong? What the hell happened to cause all this?/

"Why did the mission fail? Where's Duo? Didn't he come back with you?" Quatre asked, all in a rush. 

Wufei remained silent, but cocked his head as if thinking deeply about something. The image of Duo, dressed in an OZ uniform, that red eyed soldier so close to him. The scene in the prison block took place again, all in fast forward. It did not end, however, with Maxim firing a stray shot at Wufei, who had not looked back to see Duo throw himself at the sniper, the only reason that Wufei was still alive. The nightmare went on as Wufei hid, sweat pouring down his brow, afraid to move or breathe while OZ soldiers patrolled. Wufei had never been so scared of being captured by the enemy.

"Maxwell betrayed us," Wufei said finally. 

"No way! That's impossible, that couldn't really have happened!" Quatre exclaimed, jumping up.

/Duo… I thought I knew you. I trusted you, you were my friend…/ Quatre thought, shaking his head.

"Hai, it's the truth," Wufei insisted, the idea forming more solidly in his mind. He'd had his doubts but there couldn't be any other possible explanation. "Maxwell betrayed us."

Quatre thought for only a minute longer. Wufei's tone was undeniable, it had to be true. And if Duo really had betrayed them, then all of their safehouses would be attacked one by one… If Duo had betrayed them, all was lost.

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Heero woke from his deep sleep suddenly, almost throwing the bed sheets to the ground as he sat up with a start. Wisps of the dream he just had echoed in his mind. Heero furrowed his brow and tried to remember what he had been dreaming of, but the dream simply vanished and the echo died away, leaving him without answer. Heero looked around him, surveying the surroundings that seemed so strange to him.

/Where am I? This place… so familiar… How long have I been asleep? / 

Heero tried to stand to push away the curtains. His head swam as he started and he fell back on the pillow. His body was still weary but at least his mind was finally clear. It was almost like a fog had been lifted and Heero could finally see and hear and decipher all that was around him, it was a thing that he expressed a sigh of relief at. But even through all that a lingering feeling pressed at him.

/Trowa…/ Heero almost sighed aloud. /He took care of me… again…for all this time/ 

The memory of what had only been a few hours ago came back to Heero. His soft cries, Trowa's gentle, calming touch, the warmth that had surrounded and filled him when Trowa held him to his chest, the feelings sparked when Trowa had kissed him….

/He kissed me. Does that mean, maybe, that he loves me? / 

A soft stirring in the corner of the room attracted Heero's attention. Glancing over, Heero's soldiering instincts made his hand go for his gun, which of course hadn't been at his side in a long time. But it was only Trowa, sitting, curled up in a chair, his head lolling on his shoulder.

/Poor Trowa. He must have be so tired from watching over me all this time…/ Heero thought, surprising himself at the raw emotion. But nothing could ready him for the next thought that came to his mind. /He's so handsome, he looks like an angel, sitting like that/

/Iie! I…I can't think like that about him! He's my partner, my comrade, nothing more! There is only the mission; there is only the mission. A soldier has no time to experience and reflect on emotions of his own/

Heero had never felt emotions like this before. His whole life in fact, he'd been taught that his emotions were only nuisances and obstacles, things to be ignored and stifled. But since the war he'd brought his own philosophy to light. Act on your emotions. 

It sounded very deep and meaningful, but deep down the only reason Heero gave any regard to his emotions was the fact that he knew what they were. He knew how to control them, how to interpret the tension or the fear or the pain. All these emotions were ones familiar to the Perfect Soldier. But the emotion and feeling running throughout his whole, brought on by simply looking at Trowa, was new. 

It was new and powerful. Heero was scared by the idea of not knowing what it was he was feeling. It scared him, because he wasn't sure what it was. But on the other hand, Heero couldn't help but relish in the good that it filled inside.

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/Not even Heero kept his room this neat/ Duo thought to himself, sitting on his bed, looking at the stark comparison between his side and Maxim's. /It's only been one day but I've at least managed to make this place look "lived in"/ 

He smiled as he spied an empty bag of potato chips that he'd left by the bathroom trashcan. Things like that always infuriated Maxim. Duo's smile disappeared though, as he thought about it. He really didn't want to irritate Maxim, the way he'd done so often to Heero. Although the two had many similar ways they were entirely different people in Duo's mind. Maxim seemed so much nicer and humane than Heero. 

/He didn't even yell at me/ Duo thought, recalling the night of Wufei's escape. /His loyalty to OZ is so strong. I must have gotten him into a whole shit load of trouble… Why do I always mess things up for the people I care about the most? /

Duo stood up and walked over to pick up the plastic bag. Throwing it into the trashcan, Duo wondered how he really felt about Maxim, and how the tall, strong sniper felt about him. It was then that the gunman entered the dormitory, his red colored eyes filled with an angry, but saddened light. 

"Why're you looking so glum?" Duo asked, flashing his award-winning smile. The only effect it brought was a sideways glance in his direction. Maxim sat down on Duo's bed, staring off at nothing. Quickly, Duo came to his side and sat beside him, knowing something was dreadfully wrong.

"I hope they aren't going to demote you on account of ol' baka me!" Duo joked, giving anything to lighten the mood. "You're not being demoted are you? That'd be terrible. I've been nothing but trouble for you and…"

"Shut up," Maxim whispered, turning and grabbing Duo, pulling the braided boy to his chest. "Just shut up Duo. You don't know how great you really are. Don't…"

Maxim's words died away as he caressed Duo's long, thick braid, something he'd often dream of doing lately. Even though there was so much pain and suffering in his heart, Maxim couldn't allow himself to cry. He had to remain strong; he had to for Duo's sake.

"What is it Maxim?" Duo asked, concern for the man he had once known as an enemy ran through him.

/But it feels so good to be in his arms/ Duo couldn't help but think, oblivious to his declared fate. /I've dreamed of this ever since I first met him. Our situations make us enemies but I think I'm falling in love with him. How do I know? Maybe it's because I want to kiss him and stay in his arms forever/

"I don't ever want to let you go," Maxim said, burying his head in Duo's thick chestnut hair. "I don't want to lose you. I can't let them take you away but I don't know what to do. Onegai, this can't be happening. I've never felt this way about anyone, anyone!"

"What exactly are you saying?" Duo said, pulling away sharply. 

It was selfish but Duo wanted to hear Maxim confess his love. All his life, living on the streets and being just a dirty street urchin he'd never felt it. Never once had Duo heard anyone say to him 'I love you' and this was the one he wanted to hear it from the most.

/Does he love me? /

"I…I…" Maxim was at a loss of words. 

The handsome sniper was so caught up and filled in emotions that words didn't seem to mean anything. Words could never do justice to the feelings in his heart, feelings that only Duo caused. Maxim wondered for a moment if this was what love was like. He stared forward and found the answer in Duo's gorgeous violet eyes.

"It's alright," Duo conceded, seeing the emotion radiate from Maxim's light red eyes, gazing at him as if observing a dream. "Some things are just so hard to express in words."

An ineffable light flared in Maxim's eyes and throughout him. Slowly, tentatively, never breaking his gaze from Duo's, he leaned forward. His lips found Duo's and the shorter Gundam pilot wrapped his arms around the soldier's back, leaning into the kiss. 

Eternity seemed to pass before the kiss was broken. The two separated and breathed, looking deep into the other's soul. It would be impossible to record what passed between them, but neither had ever felt anything so wonderful. Again they moved closer and kissed.

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Maxim did not sleep that night. Even after Duo had long dropped to sleep and Shinigami's snores filed the room rest wouldn't come. He still hadn't told Duo about the execution tomorrow, how could he? He couldn't after the tender, intimate moment the two had shared.

Thinking in the darkness Maxim finally came up with an idea. He carefully untangled himself from Duo and walked over to where the phone was. Standing for a minute he pondered and thought on his reflection. Then with firm resolve he picked up phone and dialed a number.

"Oi Justin? Sorry to wake you so late but I need to ask you a favor…"

-end part 8

Note: Shorter then the other parts, yay! I've finally got the whole image for this fic in my head. I think that the last scene with Duo and Maxim wasn't good enough though, and I'd been building towards it for 7 chapters already… Oh well, I'll be getting to work on part 9 now!

masamune

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   [1]: mailto:MasamuneEHS@hotmail.com



	9. Part 9- Unknown Emotions

Perfection Breakdown- A GW fanfic

Author: masamune

Disclaimer: If owned GW I wouldn't have to write this. But I am, so of course I don't own it.

Warnings: Yaoi, angst, not much else, at least not in this part.

Archive: If there's anyone out there that'd like to archive this I'd be flattered.

Part 9- Unknown Emotions

The pickup truck wound around the bend and finally crawled to a stop at the gate. The morning had barely begun, the sun had just risen and a cloudy horizon blocked most of it. The early morning dew was thick and the air was filled with the hopes that a new dawn brings.

The window of the truck rolled down and a hand pushed a card out towards the old man watching the gate.

"Good morning sonny," The old man behind the gate said, smiling. "It's hard to believe anyone besides myself is awake at this hour. What're you driving around so early for eh?"

"I've got my vacation," Replied the figure, who was wearing no particular uniform but had a distinctively long braid that flowed out from the back of a baseball hat. The young man wore sunglasses and patted his hands on the wheel impatiently, checking the rear view mirror every so often.

"Says hear," The old man began, reading the data on the ID card, "That you're not due for leave until 0600 hours."

/This old guy is such a pain in the ass/ Duo thought to himself, creasing his brow. 

"It's 5:49 pops," He replied, annoyed and impatient as he checked the clock and then the rear view mirror. "Can't you just give me a break and let me pass through? I just want to get a head start so I can go visit my girlfriend, you know how it is."

The old man laughed and smiled back. "A girl eh? Hahahahah. Back in the day I had plenty of those to run after. Of course I'm just playing with you sonny. Let me just run your ID through the computer and you'll be all set. A few minutes won't make a difference, nobody ever checks the files on this back exit."

/Just let me go already! / Duo wanted to scream but managed a polite, "Thank you."

The old man turned around and began tapping away at his small, battered computer. Duo checked the rear view mirror and smiled. The old man stopped to look at the ID information. 

"Maxim Andalsaar?" He said, a strange tone in his gravelly voice, he clicked at the keyboard a little more. "Well, you're due for vacation today alright. But, you don't look a thing like this photo son. Are you really Maxim Andalsaar?"

"No but I am," Came a voice from behind the old man.

He turned in surprise and got a facefull of Maxim's fist. The sniper's attack knocked the old man out cold and he slumped to the floor in a heap. Cracking his knuckles, Maxim quickly grabbed the ID card.

"Wow, nice hit there," Duo said, grinning and leaning out of the window. "Get the gate up and let's go."

"What was that you said about a girlfriend you had to visit?" The red eyed OZ soldier shot back.

"Come on! You know I was just kidding!" Duo yelled, flipping off his cap and throwing it in the back.

Maxim turned his attention to the gate control panel in front of him. A few minutes later the pickup was flying down the open country road, kicking up gravel and dirt as it sped away from the OZ base. The radio played an old, out of date song and Duo made sure to roll down the windows so the cool breeze made his hair flap around. It was the most carefree time either of the two could remember in a long while.

/It feels so good to be a free man/ Duo thought to himself, gazing out the window at the landscape around him. /It's been more than 2 weeks since I got captured/ He realized, figuring out the date. /It feels like longer than that though. Maxim… I've only known him for two weeks, and now we're together/

"What are we technically?" Duo asked, almost out of the blue. 

"Huh?" Maxim had been concentrating totally on the road and watching out for any OZ patrols.

"You and me," Duo said seriously, "What are we, dating? Or is it… like tentative going out together?"

"I dunno," Maxim said dully.

"You 'dunno'?" Duo cried out. "We live in the same room for over a week, we make out like rabbits and then we break out of an OZ facility and you 'dunno' what we are?"

Maxim turned to face Duo, his soft, red eyes shimmering. "I honestly don't know," He answered, "But, I do know that I've never felt this way about anyone before in my life. I'd die rather than let anything happen to you Duo. I won't ever let anything happen to you."

"And to think that just two weeks ago you were using me for target practice!" Duo joked; referring back to the night the OZ sniper had shot him and captured him. It made Duo wonder where Wufei was.

"Where are we going?" Maxim asked then, breaking Duo from his thoughts.

"Where are we going?" Duo echoed back, not sure if he'd understood correctly. "YOU pull me out of bed at 4:30 in the morning, steal a truck, knock out a poor defenseless, though annoying, old man and now you're asking ME where we're going?"

"I haven't been outside of the base in three years," Maxim replied, somewhat upset at his naiveté to the world outside OZ, "And that was for an intelligence mission," He trailed off. 

/His whole life's been the military. The only thing he's ever really known is his loyalty to OZ / Duo realized. /And now he's giving it all up…for me… He's a fugitive now; he's put his life in danger all for me/

"The closest place from here is a small stop house," Duo finally answered. "It's not a safehouse but it has food and a radio… though it wouldn't be smart to use it since we're so close to an OZ base. I assume they monitor the radiowaves in this area and it's pretty close to here."

"OZ doesn't monitor radio transmissions in this area," Maxim replied. "We can contact whoever else you work for once we reach that point. What's the location?"

"Around Pt. 1835, 352," Duo replied, pulling the location from memories of briefings and maps. Maxim turned away and the conversation seemed to be over but something still bothered Duo.

/Why didn't he tell me we'd be making an escape today? / Duo thought to himself, turning to admire Maxim's handsome features. /Why all of a sudden? He could have given me some warning/

"Why didn't you tell me we'd be breaking out of the base?" Duo asked. "I mean, you did tell me, but that was when you threw me into this truck and told me to drive to the gate and give the ID card. You could have told me something earlier ne?"

Maxim turned and something indiscernible flickered in his face. "It wasn't planned," He said honestly. "I had no plans of leaving until last night." The tall gunman stopped and Duo thought that he wasn't going to get a straight answer easily, then Maxim turned out the blunt truth. "They were going to execute you today."

"NANI?!?!" Duo yelled, jumping up in his seat. "The…they, OZ, going to execute me? I thought, th…the interrogation?" He ended helplessly, his mind a muddle. He'd been marked for death and not even known about it.

"After 05 escaped," Maxim said, recollecting his meeting with Treize just the night before. "Pressure was put on OZ to kill you because our interrogation was proving fruitless. You were supposed to be killed later today, I found that out last night."

"But," The tall soldier didn't allow Duo to get a word in. His eyes met with Duo's violet ones. "That's when I knew I had to do something; I just couldn't let anything happen to you. I wasn't sure if my plan would work until late last night…well, early this morning."

/He could have sat back and let them take me away. I was completely helpless and he stuck his neck all the way out there for me/ Duo concluded. /Does he love me that much? How much do I love him? Would I risk my life for him? Ch', what a silly question, of course I would/

"I love you so much," Duo uttered, resting his head on the gunman's shoulder. 

"I love you too Duo," Maxim replied softly, only caring and passion in his voice, "That's why I won't ever let anything happen to you. I'll always be here for you, and I want you to know that."

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The two pilots sat quietly at the small table, both only barely picking at their food, not wanting to start a conversation, not knowing what to start a conversation about. As much as Trowa wanted to cry out how happy he was that Heero was finally well again, something held him back. Heero had a similar urge, but still something ate at him that got in the way.

/It's just like before/ Heero though to himself. /We're both acting as if there's nothing to say, but I know that I want to. I want to tell him how I really feel for him, but I don't know how. I don't know how to say it and I don't know how I feel. I don't understand these emotions/

Trowa pushed his chair back and got up. Without even a word he walked back to the kitchen and soon Heero could hear running water as Trowa started to take care of the dishes. All became awkward as Trowa left and Heero felt as if he should have spoken first.

/How do I feel about him? / Heero wondered, now staring at Trowa's empty chair. /How does he feel about me? Yes he kissed me…he took care of me and comforted me. It's obvious that he cares about me. But, is it love that he feels? Is it love that I feel for him? /

/This feeling inside of me… it's like nothing I've ever felt before. It's impossible to describe, and a word like 'love' seems so base and normal, can it really be all the wonderful and amazing things I'm feeling? /

"Heero?" At the sound of his name Heero looked up suddenly. Trowa was standing near him, his arm stretched out. Heero could only look into Trowa's sea green eyes. "Do you want me to take your plate?"

"…Hai, arigato," Heero automatically replied, his hopes falling a little. Trowa went to take away the still half-filled plate in front of Heero.

/What was I hoping for just now? / Heero asked only to himself, and the answer drifted back with no trace of doubt, /I was hoping he would kiss me. I was hoping that he'd tell me that he loves me and that everything would be all right… just like he would say when I was still sick. I…/

Heero's hand grabbed Trowa's hand as the Heavyarms pilot went to pick up the plate. He had a firm grip on Trowa's slender wrist, but not overly powerful. All stood still and the two wondered why Heero had done it, Trowa with hope, Heero with confusion. Trowa's green eyes sparkled and Heero thought that he could spend eternity simply staring into those eyes.

"Trowa…I…" Heero sputtered with his words, not sure why he'd even started to speak.

"What is it Heero?" Trowa replied, his voice calm and even, but his heart was beating faster.

/Tell him! / Something in Heero's heart screamed. /Tell him what you're thinking! Tell him how you feel! Even if it's only jumbled hopes and dreams and fears and there's no names for them, just tell him what's inside of you/

"I…,Trowa, I……..I don't know what to think right now," Heero ended helplessly. His cobalt eyes and his heart crying out for answers. Trowa let the dish fall the short distance back onto the table.

"I don't know what I'm feeling!" Heero exploded, all of his pent up emotions overtaking him. "But I feel that if I don't say something I'll just die! My mind, my heart are cluttered with, with all of this, and I don't know anything anymore, I don't know anything…" 

Nothing made sense anymore, his whole perfection had come crashing down around him. There was rubble and nothing complete, everything jagged and broken. Then he managed to take a hold of one, solid, concrete, thought. It was a small, miniscule feeling but he knew it.

"But I do know that I liked it when you kissed me."

He bowed his head and let his grip on Trowa's arm slip. But even as his hand fell away he felt something warm and soft wrap around it. Heero looked up to see Trowa holding his hand. 

"You don't need to know what you're feeling," Trowa said, his voice calm but caring. "Feelings and emotions are like wisps of dreams, you don't need to know everything about them. They don't all have a definition or clear meaning. The important thing is that you have these feelings and that you get only the best ones in life."

Moving quickly, the tall, Latin boy pushed his lips to Heero's. The Wing pilot's eyes flew wide open. This time the kiss was different for Heero. Before he'd been almost asleep and it had felt like a dream. But now, in the clear morning light, it all seemed to take shape. It wasn't concrete or solid, but it was something wonderful, and Heero didn't give a damn how much sense it made.

Heero began pushing back and returned the intimate connection. The two closed their eyes and tuned out everything in the world besides the other. Then Trowa pulled away and Heero's eyes fluttered open. Trowa was smiling now, and Heero thought that it was the most beautiful thing he could ever see.

"I love you Heero," Trowa whispered. "And even though I can't tell you exactly what love means I can tell you this… Nothing matters to me other than you. I won't ever do anything to hurt you and I'll be damned if anything else does. I'll give you all the best things in life that I can possibly find, and everything else. You're the most important thing in my life now and forever Heero."

/I don't know what to say, but I don't think that's what's important anymore. Even if it doesn't make sense, maybe it can turn out fine, or even better than that/

"Trowa…" Heero began, innocently, not able to look the other boy in the eye. "I don't know what love is. But I know that I want to be with you too. I'm not as sure of my feelings and myself as you are. But maybe if we try this together we'll get some answers."

Trowa shook his head. He reached out a hand to touch Heero's face. Running his fingers over the smooth beautiful visage, like he'd only done in his dreams, Trowa sighed. He tipped Heero's head up and their eyes met and locked.

"Words can't say everything," Trowa said, "You once told me that the only way to live was to follow your emotions. So, just let things fall into place."

Cupping Heero's chin in his hand Trowa tilted Heero's face up to his even more. Heero closed his eyes and waited for the wonderful feeling that came with Trowa's kisses to fill him. Trowa leaned forward to kiss the boy he loved, and then he stopped.

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Heero's eyes fluttered open, he face was less than an inch from Trowa's.

"What's wrong?" He asked Trowa.

"Shh, I hear something outside," Trowa quickly said, pushing a finger over Heero's lips. 

/What's that? / Trowa's mind raced to connect the sound with something he knew. /There it is again. A car! Shimatta! OZ? Wait, listen… there's only one. Where's my gun? / 

Trowa turned to Heero and whispered urgently, "Get into the bathroom, don't make a sound. Don't move from there until I come for you. There's a pistol in the towel rack. If somebody starts to open the door without knocking twice, shoot them."

/Car doors closing/ Trowa's sharp hearing told him. /I have to get Heero somewhere safe first. They may have surrounded this place and this car could just be a decoy to draw us out. Kuso, we shouldn't have stayed here as long as we have/

As Trowa cursed his actions he grabbed Heero's arm and pulled him towards the small bathroom. Keeping low and away from the windows they scrambled across the floor, trying to make as little noise as possible. Finally they reached the small bathroom, Trowa threw open the door and Heero jumped inside, going for the concealed gun amongst the towels. It fell to the floor and Heero picked it up, it felt weird in his hands. 

"I will be back for you," Trowa said meaning every last word of it. Then he shut the door and left.

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"I've got to really take a piss," Duo said, jumping from the truck and heading for the front door.

Maxim cut off the engine and got out himself. He looked around, eyeing the green surroundings but mostly scoping out the stop house. 

/Something's not right/ His instincts told him. /Someone's here! Someone's in this house! /

"Duo get back here!" He hissed sharply, just as Duo reached the door. 

The confused Deathscythe pilot turned around, confused and pouted, "I really have to pee!"

"Get back in the truck! Something's not right," Maxim ordered sharply. He felt even surer of his hunch as he noticed a light on inside of the house. "Somebody's already here Duo! Get back in the truck!"

/Is it OZ? / Maxim wondered to himself. /Did they find this place before us? How could they possibly have gotten ahead of us? How could they know where we were heading? /

He pulled his silver, chrome pistol from his holster and clicked off the safety. He rushed up to the brick wall of the house near the door, making sure he was clear of the windows. He turned to see Duo still lingering around the pickup truck.

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"Get back in the truck!" Trowa heard the order as he crouched by one of the front windows. "Don't come out until I tell you to!" A car door slammed again.

/Crap! It must be an ambush/ Trowa thought to himself. A dark figure passed by the window and cast a shadow for only a fleeting moment. /He's going around to the side door/ Trowa thought to himself.

He cocked his gun and crawling on hands and knees reached the side door. Opening it without a sound Trowa got outside and flattened his back against the brick wall. Shimming along the side Trowa felt his chest rise and fall as he held his gun ready for the attacker to come around the corner.

/If I die here… what will happen to Heero? / Trowa thought, but shook it from his mind, focusing on the task at hand. /The enemy is just around the corner. Reinforcements in the vehicle parked in the driveway. I could get a shot off on the scout man, but would that give me enough time to get back inside the house before the other soldiers get me? /

Reaching the corner Trowa stopped and listened for any sound, there was none. Even the wind seemed to have stopped and all was as quiet as a tomb. Trowa waited for another full minute before he decided to take the risk and check around the corner.

/Nobody there? / He only caught a brief glimpse of the front as he tilted his head around the corner, but it was empty. /Where did the enemy scout go? / He shifted back to his original position and got an answer as a metal cylinder was pressed firmly against the side of his head.

"Don't move or I'll fire," A calm but strong voice said to him. "Throw down your weapon." Trowa caught a glimpse of the black OZ uniform.

/What should I do? Will they kill me even if I surrender? What will they do to Heero? / All these questions came to Trowa's mind at once but he had no answers to them.

"Throw down your weapon, I won't ask a third time," The OZ gunman said firmly, only a hint of anger in his voice. 

/Is this how it ends? / Trowa wondered. /I can't die, I can't leave Heero. I can't surrender, I can't let them capture Heero. Caught between a rock and a hard place indeed. I'm out of options/

Trowa's pistol fell to the dirt with a dead thud. 

"Now, turn arou…" Maxim's voice trailed off.

"If you kill him, I will most certainly kill you," Came a third voice, Heero's. He had his own pistol leveled at the back of Maxim's head.

A staunch, dry silence fell over all three as they considered how ridiculous but dangerous the situation was. The wind picked up again and shook the leaves on the trees. Maxim's thoughts wondered back to Duo, still in the pickup truck. He had no clue what these people might do to him.

Maxim hesitated and then replied, "If I surrender, will you spare my life and my friend's?"

"You're a very poor soldier," Heero retorted, Dr. J's scolding lessons coming back to him. "A soldier afraid to die shouldn't be out in battle."

"I'm not afraid to die, I just have something to live for."

"Drop your gun first and we may be able to work something out," Heero answered, but wasn't sure of how honest his answer was. He couldn't just let an OZ soldier leave with the location of a stop house. The only reason he hadn't already killed this OZ soldier was because if he did Trowa would also most certainly die. 

"I think you're lying and that'll you'll kill me either way," Maxim replied coolly, calling Heero's bluff. "And if you don't spare me at least don't harm my friend. And even if you don't do that, at least tell Commander Treize that I think he is wrong for following Romafeller. He'll understand what it means."

/This guy thinks we're working for OZ/ Trowa put together. /But if he's an OZ soldier why would he think other OZ soldiers would be a threat to him? …wait…another noise/

Trowa wanted to say something, but he was afraid that if he made even the slightest move Maxim would blow him away. The footsteps got closer and then Duo walked right around the corner.

"Don't shoot him!" Duo cried out, almost causing both Maxim and Heero to squeeze their respective triggers. "Stop!"

-end part 9

Note: BLEHH! I had no clue how to end this part. I worked on the ending of this scene more than the rest of it and ever tried several different things but none of them were good. I'm really sorry for making the end of this part the way I did.

Duo is reunited with his long lost fellow pilots! YAY!

Part 10 will be out soon. Please send feedback to MasamuneEHS@hotmail.com


	10. Part 10- Reunion

Perfection Breakdown- a GW fanfics- by masamune

[MasamuneEHS@hotmail.com][1]

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and probably never will.

Warnings: Yaoi and a little angst in this part

Archive: Available for anyone to archive, just e-mail me and I'll send you any of the earlier parts too.

Part 10

"Right behind you! He's right behind you!"

The Shenlong swirled around and with a quick swipe slashed through an oncoming Aries. The beam sliced cleanly through the metal as if it had been paper and the Aries burst into flame. The mobile suit hurtled to the Earth but exploded midway, disappearing into a nova of fire as the Shenlong turned away.

"You don't need to watch my back," Wufei said over the intercom. "Worry about yourself Winner, I'm a good enough pilot to survive on my own."

Quatre could only bite his lip at the stinging answer. Looking around he saw sections of woodlands ablaze from the battle that had just taken place. Small patches of flame seemed to litter the scene. Once mobile suits and human pilots, now they were nothing but ravaging fire that consumed the trees and brush as if acting in angry vengeance for their deaths. The minute squadron of Aries and Leos had attacked just before midday and although it had been an easy battle Quatre was still unsure of himself.

/OZ knows where we are/ He told himself. /Why do they keep on sending just small squads? There's only two active Gundams, why don't they just throw their bulk at us and annihilate us? Do they have something up their sleeves?/ With a sad shake of his head Quatre glanced at one of the many small screens in Sandrock's cockpit. /Seventeen dead… was there any real need for them to die? Iie, nothing is more important than life… seventeen dead… seventeen?/

A glimmer sparkled on his radar and Quatre's head snapped up. "Wufei! Watch out!" Screaming, as his instinct took over, he gripped the control sticks tightly. His sympathy was quickly washed away by fear and tension. Sandrock hurtled one of its curved swords through the air. Wufei didn't have a chance to react as the immense blade flew just over his Gundam's shoulder and into an advancing Leo, beam saber still drawn as it burst into an explosion of waste. 

"We have to learn to work together," Quatre spoke gently but the Chinese noble could recognize how important it was to Quatre, there was a certain hint of passion in the Arab's voice. "A person can only do so much on their own, but if we work together we're much stronger."

"Ch'!" Wufei spat indignantly, but knew that Quatre was correct. They had to work together. "…maybe you do have a point Winner…" He eventually agreed. "Fine, I'll try it your way for a little while, but teamwork can never outmatch power and strength."

"You don't need to do everything on your own, nobody's expecting that from you," Quatre answered, pulling off his pilot goggles. "There are five of us for a reason, we must work together."

"Four," Wufei replied, bowing his head sadly, "There's four of us now that Duo's betrayed us. He's working for OZ now, that's obvious, how else could all they keep finding our locations? It's never happened before until now."

"I…" Quatre faltered, he didn't know what to say in response.

/Duo betrayed us to OZ… I still can't believe that, there has to be something more to it. Four of us left… maybe less…maybe only Wufei and I/ Quatre frowned and a wave of sadness washed over him as he thought about Heero and Trowa. All the signs and evidence led to the fact that more than likely he'd never see either of them again. When Wufei had returned there was no news of them. Nobody had heard for them since the botched mission. Even Abdul and Auda's attempt to locate them in the OZ base had failed…

/More than likely… they're dead…/

"…and that's how it happened!" Duo wound up his fantastic story of how Maxim had guarded him at the base and finally helped him escape. He had told Heero and Trowa everything from the night of the attack up through the early morning drive to the house where they currently sat. He had, however, left out the part about Maxim almost killing Wufei.

The three Gundam pilots and the former OZ gunman sat around the cramped kitchen table. When Duo had come upon his two partners and Maxim, all with guns drawn to each other's heads he had panicked at first but quickly gotten the situation under control. 

"…I heard your panic signal go off and I thought for sure you and Wufei would be dead," Trowa recalled the fateful night's events with a slight shiver. He'd been deathly afraid for his friends' lives. 

Duo flashed his award-winning smile, shrugged his shoulders and laughed, "You should know by now that nothing's ever going to kill Shinigami!"

"What about him?" Heero spoke up, throwing his gaze at Maxim. The two veteran soldiers had been silent the whole time and had only regarded each other with wary glances.

"What about him?" Duo echoed back, not catching on to Heero's words.

"What are we going to do with him?" Heero answered, his voice stone cold. "I don't think we can trust him, not at all. For all we know he could still be working for OZ. He jeopardizes the Gundams and our mission."

"Maxim's no spy!" Duo exploded immediately, rising up from his chair quickly. "He risked his life for me! He took care of me and helped me escape from OZ! There's no way he could be working for them!" 

Trowa raised an eyebrow warily; he'd caught something in Duo's tone that showed there was more to his defense of Maxim then just those facts. Either way he didn't like the direction the conversation was taking. From potential shooting crisis, to joyous reunion, to suspicion and anger. 

"You don't know that," Heero replied to Duo's outburst in a calm manner. "There's no way you know why he's with you. It is highly possible that he's just using you to…"

"I'm not using Duo for anything!" Maxim broke into the conversation suddenly, cutting off Heero and keeping his light red eyes looked on the Asian boy's. "Not all people are heartless and evil. Not everyone in the world would take advantage of others for personal needs. I wouldn't ever take advantage of Duo or harm him in any way."

Heero's eyes narrowed and the tension thickened in the room as Maxim's red stare seemed to burrow into the Perfect Soldier; the Wing pilot's unnerved cobalt flickered back with equal intensity. It was like a gray sky before the storm broke. And then Maxim turned away, his eyes resting finally on Duo, who was about as speechless as anyone had ever seen him.

"If you don't mind handing over your gun to us and letting us search you, I have no problem with you staying here," Trowa said, turning all three pairs of eyes on him.

"Trowa…" Heero said softy. "But..." He began to protest.

"If Duo trusts him," Trowa said firmly, "it doesn't mean that I trust him; but, I do trust Duo's judgment on this. After all, he knows this stranger better than we do." He looked at his braided comrade for a moment and then switched his gaze to the OZ sniper.

"You can trust him!" Duo spoke up before Heero could get in a word. "He risked his life for me, and…" His voice faltered and Duo didn't know whether or not to continue and say what he felt.

/Should I tell them?/ He questioned himself, glancing at Heero and Trowa. /How could I tell them that I'm in love with a guy? Will they just think I'm some messed up queer? I don't want them to hate me, but I don't want to hide my feelings either…/

"I don't want to cause a great big scene," Cooly, Maxim took the pressure off of Duo, causing the boy to breathe a sigh of relief. "There is no way I can make you trust me, you can never trust anybody fully. However, there's also a certain thing called giving a man a chance to prove himself. I agree to whatever terms you'd like," He addressed Trowa, putting his silver pistol on the kitchen table.

Duo noticed Trowa nod his head in agreement but Heero made no such gesture to show that his dislike of the situation was gone or even waning. Trowa stood up and his chair scraped across the floor. 

Still with his calm demeanor Trowa addressed Maxim, "Come with me, I'll check you for anymore weapons now, if you don't mind." 

Maxim followed Trowa off to the bathroom and left the room intensely quiet, yet thick with an air of wariness and tension that wouldn't go away. Heero seemed to be deep in thought, completely ignoring Duo and staring down at the kitchen floor.

/What a happy reunion THIS is!/ Duo sarcastically thought. /You'd think they'd be happy that I'm alive and even helped gain an ally. I wonder though… why would Heero and Trowa still be all the way the hell out here in the middle of nowhere? It's been almost two weeks since the mission blew over, and it looks like they've just been here all this time. Maybe I should ask Heero, or will he just bite my head off?/

He looked at Heero, who was still deep in thought, his arms folded across his chest. After a minute, Duo decided to risk the question. "So what've you two been doing out here all alone in the woods for the past two weeks?" Duo said the question in an innocent manner, hoping Heero would take it as one of his normal, 'annoying', urges to end periods of silence. Heero looked up at Duo, his cobalt eyes crackling, obviously unhappy to have been broken from his concentration.

"I was sick," Heero said simply. Then he immediately turned away from his braided partner, the action filling Duo with sadness and reminiscence of days not long past. 

/He doesn't seem to have changed one bit at all/ Duo decided to himself. /Stoic, impassive, it's like he never was taught what emotions are. I don't know what in the world I could have ever seen in him… Iie! I can't think like that now! I'm with Maxim now, I love him, he loves me…I…/

"Duo?" Heero's voice came unexpectedly. "I'm sorry that I didn't trust you earlier, but I just want to avoid any future conflicts with OZ. I…" His voice broke and Duo saw a the unmistakable impression of pain flash through Heero's eyes. "I don't want to fight anymore, not right now… I don't, I don't know if I could kill anyone…even if they were an enemy." 

/Heero was a second away from killing Maxim just a few minutes ago. How can he say that he can't bring himself to kill now? Why is he saying something like that?/

Duo let all of his thoughts roll away; they'd be answered in time. But Heero's actions and words were something that made even Shinigami frown. The normally stoic soldier was not acting like himself at all. For a moment Duo was motionless, unsure of what to say or do next. He'd only tried to console Heero in mock sympathy in the past; Heero never really needed things like that…

"Heero… What's wrong?" Genuinely concerned now, Duo thought that Heero was looking close to tears.

Heero looked up from the floor, his cobalt eyes consumed by sadness and pain. His brown bangs fell in a mess over his forehead, only slightly shading his face. Duo had never seen his friend so emotional and upset. 

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry," Heero said finally, the words spillign out in a rush of words like water being released after its been dammed up for a long time. "I'm sorry for how poorly I always treated you, how nasty I was. I thought you were dead…I…I was scared, for you, for everyone. You're a great person, I need to tell you that, at least once. … Gomen, I'm babbling. I'll just be quiet now."

/This isn't the Heero Yuy I know…apologizing? I never thought I'd live to hear that/ Even though he was being cynical, Duo knew something inside Heero had changed. 

Heero's cobalt eyes were fixed on the floor. Thoughts were tumbling over in his mind endlessly, more questions forming than he could possibly answer. He didn't want to make a fool out of himself in front of Duo, his heartfelt apology a quivering mumble of idiocy. Why would Duo even accept an apology after all the terrible treatment Heero had made him suffer? Forgiveness is a thing made in time, there was no reason to prostrate himself now, it would take time…

"I forgive you Heero," Duo said, his voice made Heero's head snap up. 

Duo smiled and noticed that Heero would not make eye contact with him. Even despite the confidence that Heero was comforted by his words, Duo felt that he had done the right thing. One thing he didn't want on his conscience was Heero's pain. 

"You can't do anything about the past," Duo tried to provide a little solace for his afflicted friend. "Don't get bent out of shape by it. Change what you want and keep on living."

"I hope you don't mind," Trowa said calmly as he checked Maxim's groin region for weapons. "I just have to make sure you aren't carrying anything."

/Just wish you'd be a little more gentle…/ Maxim thought bitterly to himself. /I can't stand being searched like this, it's such a blatant violation of one's body… but at least this guy keeps it professional/

The two experienced soldiers were cramped in the tiny bathroom, the only real concealed place in the miniscule house. Maxim had his hands on the firm rim of the sink, his legs spread wide apart. Trowa had begun the search without a word, more of a mutual understanding between them. Not a word had been spoken between them.

"What's your real reason for helping Duo?" Trowa broke the silence, an awkward first. 

"What do you mean?" Maxim asked in response, shifting so that Trowa could more easily gain access to his arms. "Duo explained to you just earlier didn't he?"

The returned look in the Heavyarms pilot's eyes spoke for Trowa. As he finished patting down Maxim, the former OZ soldier noticed the icy, suspicious stare he was receiving from Trowa through the mirror. After a short time more the search was finished and Trowa let Maxim turn around.

"You don't trust me do you?" Maxim asked, keeping calm, not wanting to start a conflict with what seemed to be his new partners. The two just stood still, measuring each other up and then Maxim asked, "Where are you from?" 

The change of subject didn't throw Trowa for a second. "Don't try that, it won't work."

"Then what do you want?" Maxim snapped back, his limit being tested. "You know my story, you searched me. What else do you want from me?" His intense red eyes flickered like a fire as he spoke, his anger directed at the silent clown standing calmly in front of him. "You want to hear me say that the real reason I'm here is to turn you over to OZ, ne? You want me to tell you that I'm planning to betray Duo and send him back to OZ so they can kill him? That's not the way it is."

"Why did you help him?" Trowa repeated his earlier question, his demeanor still stoic and calm. 

"Did you ever do something so illogical just because you felt like you couldn't live another day if you did otherwise?" Was Maxim's reply, making Trowa's features soften momentarily. "I don't know if you can relate, but people sometimes need to do crazy stuff just to help someone they really care about, even if it's something they've never done and that goes against everything they've ever known."

/The real reason I helped Duo is because when I found out he was scheduled to be executed I felt like I couldn't lose him/ Maxim was thinking to himself, the truth smoldering him and increasing his urge to simply confess all. /There doesn't need to be logic behind helping the one you love/

Trowa was caught up in his own thoughts, so much had happened since the fateful mission, he'd fallen in love for the first time in his life and Heero had even fallen for him. The grief of failing the mission and of possibly losing two comrades and friends had quickly been dwarfed by the pressing need to take care of Heero, at the time, nothing else mattered. 

"I have another question," Said Trowa, his voice still calm and flat, but with a softer look on his gamin face. "Does OZ monitor radio waves in this area?"

"Nani?" Maxim replied instinctively, not having really heard the question, buried deep in his personal speculations. "Oh that… Iie, iie, not from this base. I know that they have rather sophisticated radar but they don't monitor radio transmissions at the base."

"Good," Trowa nodded and spoke his thoughts aloud, "then it's time to contact the others."

He turned and unlocked the bathroom door, motioning for Maxim to follow him. The red eyed soldier complied and the two went back to the kitchen where Heero and Duo were.

-end part 10

Note: End part 10? End part 10! By the Gods I finally finished this part!!! **insane laughter**

But seriously, I am terribly, terribly sorry to all of the people that have been waiting for this part to come out. Sometimes life throws you a few curves and guess I got smacked upside the head by one… but anyway the reason this took so long was because for a long while I basically abandoned writing. It's a long story and whatnot but at least I'm back in action (though I'm not too sure if that's a good thing) and the next part shouldn't take nearly as long. 

Please send feedback to MasamuneEHS@hotmail.com 

   [1]: mailto:MasamuneEHS@hotmail.com



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